THEIR IRREPRESSIBLE
INNOCENCE
Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it
is a moist gray November in my soul; whenever I find myself slathered
by lies and poseurs, afflicted by devious performance art at every turn,
and grimly expecting the worst of every situation and every person I meet;
whenever I find myself expecting to be cut off in traffic, to be shortchanged
at the store, to hear an ominous clank in the transmission, to catch a cold,
to be ludicrously overbilled by the insurance company, to find the library
closed early, to endure computer malfunction, to find the wine sour, to
lose my keys, to hear of sudden surgery in the tribe, to discover a city of
slugs in the cellar, and to find a dead owlet under the cracked front picture
window, then I account it high time to get to a kindergarten as fast as I can,
and sit myself down in a tiny chair, looking not unlike a large hairy bespectacled bookish giant, and inquire of the lives and dreams and feats of
the small populace, and listen with the most assiduous and ferocious
attention, for I find that as few as twenty minutes with people no taller
than your belt buckle is enormously refreshing, and gloriously educational,
and wonderfully startling, and endlessly hilarious,
and very much like drinking a tremendous glass of
crystalline water when you have been desperately
thirsty for a long time, and in something of a personal desert.
They will tell you of the animals with whom they
speak cheerfully and at length every day, and explain
carefully what the animals say in return, speaking
sometimes with their noses and their feet and their
fingers. They will tell you of their dreams in which
they are swifter than falcons and bigger than bears.
They will tell you of their futures when they are absolutely going to be
dancers and pilots and firefighters. They will tell you of the strange wild
mysterious people in their lives, some of them visible and some not, as
yet. They will talk knowledgeably of angels and spirits and voices that
come out of the ground if you dig a deep enough hole. They will speak
other languages than ones you know or they know. They will sing with
or without the slightest provocation or solicitation. They love to explain
things by drawing them, and colors for them have flavors and characters
and tonal intimations and strict rules and regulations; depending on the
artist, you can use green for buffalo, but you cannot use blue for cougars,
because cougars are afraid of blue, everyone knows that.
If you draw them out and give them time and afford them the clear sense
that you are not judging or assessing or measuring them in any way, they
will stretch out and tell you tales of adventure and derring-do that would
make filmmakers and novelists drool. They hold hands and kiss each other
without the slightest self-consciousness or social awareness. They suddenly
break off conversations to do headstands because when a headstand needs
to be done it should be done without delay. They are inordinately proud of
their socks and show you their socks at every opportunity, and you never
saw such a wild welter of bright animated colorfully patterned socks in your
life as those in kindergartens: It is Sock Paradise. They use the word cubby
all the time, which is a pleasant rotund word that we should use more often.
When they are released into the schoolyard or the playground they sprint
out into the welcoming embrace of the wild green world with all their might,
with their arms flung open and their mouths open and their shoes untied,
and when I see this from my tiny chair, when I see them fling themselves
howling and thrilling into the delicious world that arose miraculously from
the emptiness of the vast unknowable universe, I weep at their joy, and at
some other thing I do not understand â&#x20AC;&#x201D; their irrepressible innocence, my
battered innocence, our assaulted endangered innocence, their clean fresh
unconscious grace, the fraught teetering of our species; and then I arise, and
thank the teacher for allowing me to visit, and drive home, restored.
Brian Doyle is the editor of this magazine, and the author most recently of the
novel Chicago (St. Martinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Press).

F E A T U R E S
14 / A Muslim in the Gray Zone, by Laila Lalami
The University’s Schoenfeldt Series Visiting Writer on the absolutely
unConstitutional and immoral and growing bigotry toward America’s
own citizens. We do exactly what the thugs want when we fear
and demonize each other.
18 / Their Bruised Grace, photographs by Michael Schmitt
It was 25 years ago this year that an exuberant Holy Cross priest named
Dick Berg started the Macdonald Center on Portland’s Skid Road.
It was a terrific idea. It still is.

page 14

24 / Mr Lincoln, by Brian Doyle
He gave his life for the extraordinary American idea. Do not let that idea die.

page 18

26 / The Only Way You Can Support the Death Penalty
is to Not Know a Thing About It, by Dale Recinella
The death penalty does not deter crime, innocent people are tortured
and murdered, and the Bible does not excuse and defend it.
A death row chaplain speaks bluntly.
30 / Things That Silence Me, by Jeremiah O’Hagan
“I love you,” he said. “You are miracles and I love you, I love you, I love you…”
32 / A New Sort of Rest, by Erin White
On trying to pray the Rosary again, after fifteen years and so many scars…

The University’s new library
dean, succeeding the estimable Drew Harrington, is Xan
Arch, a veteran of Reed College
and Stanford University libraries. ¶ University art professor
Father Mark Ghyselinck,
C.S.C., will have a show of his
oil paintings (many of them
campus scenes, like the one on
the back cover of this issue)
until September 22 in Buckley
Center’s gallery. ¶ Beginning
their final teaching years on
The Bluff, after stellar careers
all round: nursing’s Carol Craig
(9 years), engineering’s Wayne
Lu (29 years!) and Jim Male
(20 years) and Zia Yamayee
(20 years), and environmental
science’s Father Ron Wasowski,
C.S.C. (19 years). ¶ November
16: political science professor
and cheerful brilliant guy
Father Claude Pomerleau,
C.S.C., talks about the changing
relationship between religion
and politics, at 7 p.m. in 120
Franz Hall, free.

From

the

Past

September 1, 1984: this magazine is born, invented by John
Soisson. ¶ October 5, 1986: the
Chapel of Christ the Teacher is
dedicated. ¶ October 10, 1982:
Father Tom Oddo, all of 36
years old, is inaugurated as
president of the University.
Tom was soaring in the job
when he died in a car crash
in 1989. ¶ October 15 is the
feast day of the great brilliant
tart tough blunt wild mystic
Saint Teresa of Avila: “Christ
has no body now on earth but
yours, no hands but yours, no

Portland
2

feet but yours. Yours are the
eyes through which to look out
Christ’s compassion to the
world. Yours are the feet with
which he is to go about doing
good; yours are the hands
with which he is to bless...”
¶ Among the remarkable
musicians born in November: Arthur Ira Garfunkel,
the great jazzist Rickie Lee
Jones, the terrific guitarist
Bonnie Raitt, Neil Young,
Graham Parker, and composer Randy Newman.¶ November 11, 1922: Kurt Vonnegut
is born in Indianapolis. “The
America I loved still exists, if
not in the White House or the
Supreme Court or the Senate
or the House of Representatives or the media. The
America I love still exists at
the front desks of our public
libraries.”

The Students

A look at the student body:
3,741 undergraduates (from
47 states and 37 countries),
509 graduate students (including, now, a few doctoral
students in nursing and education); 35% of students are
from minority populations;
average SAT of freshmen was
1270, grade-point average 3.65.
¶ The University’s crucial retention rate was beautifully
high: 92% of freshmen returned for sophomore year.
¶ But the cost is high — the
average total cost per student
was about $54,000 for tuition,
room, and board. 98% of undergraduate students needed
financial aid, the average student received $24,000 in grants
and scholarships (not loans),
and as a whole the undergraduates received $113 million
in financial aid. Why are we
always asking for money?
Because our students need
the help desperately. ¶ Best
places to study on campus,
according to a report from the
provost’s office: Shiley Hall’s
huge quiet two-story student
space; the quiet half of Bauccio Commons, if you have earbuds; any empty classroom,
left unlocked by presidential
command; and Saint Mary’s.
The national average for study,
notes Provost Tom Greene:
two hours for every class hour.

ART BY MILAN ERCEG

read by faculty, staff, and
students is Anthony Doerr’s
All the Light We Cannot See,
leading up to his campus visit,
as Schoenfeldt Series guest,
February 27. The first two
selections were Alice McDermott’s Charming Billy and
The Season
Laila Lalami’s The Moor’s
Oh, the days dwindle down
Account. ¶ Dec. 3 is the Unito a precious few / Septemversity’s annual moving Advent
ber, November / And these
Concert at Saint Mary’s Cathefew precious days I’ll spend
dral in Portland. Information:
with you / These precious
503.943.7228. ¶ Garaventa
days I’ll spend with you...
Center events this fall: artist
wrote Maxwell Anderson to
K. A. Colorado, talking about
the music of Kurt Weill, who
morality and climate change
together created “September
(October 4), a lecture about
Song.” Among the many great Oscar Wilde’s artistic and relisingers who have recorded it:
gious conversion (NovemFrank Sinatra, the Bingle, Billy ber 9, with theologian Sister
Eckstine, Rosemary Clooney,
Ann Astell of Notre Dame),
and, startlingly, James Brown
and a lecture on, no kidding,
and Lou Reed. The University scripture and zombies (Octannually offers dozens of con- ober 25). Information on all:
certs by the University Singers, Sarah Nuxoll, 503.943.7702,
the Women’s Chorale, the Jazz
nuxoll@up.edu.
Band, the Wind Symphony,
and the University Orchestra
— and noon Music at Midweek
concerts by local musicians. ¶
Autumn brings the University’s
regents back to campus, on
September 22 and 23. Today
we have 67 active and former
The University
trustees, who collectively
legally own the University and Leading a tour of the valleys
hire the president. ¶ Dedicated Napa and Silicon October 20-23
on November 10: the Univer- this fall: University president
Father Mark Poorman, C.S.C.
sity’s newest residence hall,
Among the events: talks by
Lund Family Hall, with 113
double and triple rooms, across Cisco EVP Randy Pond, Sun
from the Chiles Center. ¶ De- Microsystems founder Vinod
Khosla, Bon Appetit founder
cember 9: the University’s
annual cheerful Christmas Gala Fedele Bauccio ’64, and Mass
and dinner (in the cask room)
in Bauccio Commons, hosted
by University president Father at Merryvale Winery. Information: Father Ed Obermiller,
Mark Poorman, C.S.C.
C.S.C., obermill@up.edu.
503.943.8607. ¶ Pilot fall sports
started in August, when soccer,
rowing, cross country, volleyball, and tennis launched. See
portlandpilots.com for schedules and tickets for all. ¶ Hosted by the University’s vibrant
Arts & Letters
Garaventa Center for Catholic
Coming to campus November
Life this fall: the annual Father
28 for the English department’s John Zahm, C.S.C. Lecture in
readings series: novelist and
Catholicism, this year featuring
musician Willy Vlautin, leader the polymath Franciscan Sister
of the soon-to-close-up-shop
Ilia Delio (September 22), the
Portland band Richmond Fon- University’s annual Red Mass,
taine, and winner of the Orehonoring men and women in
gon Book Award. ¶ The Uni- the law, on September 28, folversity opens its third UP Reads lowed by dinner featuring
year in August; the book being United States House of Repre-

He was actually sort of shy, the late University regent Earle Chiles was, despite his wealth and fame; and he spent
much of his 83 years, before his death in June, cheerfully giving his money away. He gave the University many
millions of dollars — for the athletic arena named for his parents, for all sorts of student-athlete programs, for one
of the 14 glorious bells in the University’s bell tower, for the Chapel of Christ the Teacher, and especially for the
Father Pru Scholarship in accounting, named for his dear friend Father Chester Prusynski, C.S.C. Earle and his
parents hugely admired the Congregation of Holy Cross — “they stand out worldwide for their spiritual, moral,
and ethical leadership,” he said. “The University is a tremendous asset to the community, a wonderful shining
diamond…” Always fascinated by science, Earle was also particularly generous to Providence Health — the Earle
A. Chiles Research Institute at Providence Cancer Center, now world-famous for its immunotherapy work, is
named for his dad. On The Bluff we will remember the shy witty man whose quiet generosity built the Chiles
Center and had a direct effect on many thousands of students. Rest in peace, Earle. Thank you. Say hi to Father
Pru for us when you see him. Prayers.
Autumn 2016
3

ADAM GUGGENHEIM

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From Air Force General Dana Atkins ’77’s speech recently on Veterans’ Day at the University: “Some 25 million
Americans, male and female, have worn the uniform of the United States of America. They humbled dictators,
liberated continents, and set a standard of courage and idealism for the entire world. As Winston Churchill said,
‘Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.’ So today, to honor that debt, I ask
three favors: First, have the grace to help a veteran or service member. Have the grace to do something for them. We
have so many wounded veterans who need your compassion and your support. Help them. Second, say thanks. They
deserve it and they don’t hear it enough. They sacrificed their present and perhaps their future so we could have
better lives ourselves. Have the grace to say thanks for your life and your freedom and your future. Last: have the
courage to embrace the values our veterans fought and died for, the values millions of us are fighting for today.
America has never been anything more than a grand experiment, a wild-eyed notion in the winds of human history.
The life we have been given was never guaranteed. Freedom, equality, and justice are noble concepts, but they are
not self-enforcing. They are only worth what we are willing to pay to keep them alive. Remember that. And remember
what the poet Michael O’Donnell, an Army helicopter pilot who was killed in Vietnam, wrote: “Save for them a place
inside of you... And in that time when men decide and feel safe to call the war insane, take one moment to embrace
those gentle heroes you left behind...”
Portland
4

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At left, junior Madison Ward; at right, Colleen Olinger, who just graduated in May and is now an emergency room
nurse. Both of them walked on to the Pilot women’s basketball team; Olinger was elected captain. “Let me explain this
feat,” says coach Cheryl Sorensen. “They were not recruited, they don’t get a cent in scholarship money, but they
earned spots on a Division One college team. They knew they would never play big minutes, yet they are team
leaders and terrific teammates — Colleen was team comedian and Maddie tutors her teammates in business and
Spanish. Listen, we practice six days a week, four hours a day, usually starting at dawn. And then there’s film,
meetings, weights, games, travel, injury rehab, etcetera. And more important than any of this is school. Maddie takes
18 credits, six classes, and Colleen had one of the toughest majors there is. But both are great students. Neither ever
let down for a moment, and we go from August through April at this pace. They never get to sit down for a meal.
They work so hard. I don’t know if people understand how hard it is to do what they did, how amazing it is. To play
big-time basketball without a scholarship, to be team leaders when you walked on to the team — these are incredible
young women. Here are your sports stars.” We agree with quiet awe.
Autumn 2016
5

ADAM GUGGENHEIM

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EAT LIKE
YOU GIVE
A DAMN!

B L U F F

customer expectations in a positive
way. I wanted to build a company
that would provide flavorful food that
was healthy and economically viable
for all, produced through practices
that respect farmers, workers, and
animals. I wanted to build a company
From Fedele Bauccio’s Commencement that would nourish the community
speech in May. Fedele, a ’64 and ’66 grad- now and replenish our shared natural
resources for future generations.
uate, went on from The Bluff to create
and run Bon Appétit, which now oper- As I traveled around the country
I was able to see how so much of our
ates nearly 700 cafés in 33 states for
myriad clients — among them the Uni- food was raised, and so much of the
negative effect modern agriculture
versity of Portland.
has on the environment and on public
The University of Portland is where health. We have an industrial agricultural model that runs on agrochemit all began for me, where my life
icals and federal subsidies for feed
changed. It was September of 1960.
crops, is heavily dependent on fossil
I left sunny California on a train
bound for Portland. I was excited, apprehensive, scared. There was no beer
in the Pilot House, the food in the
Commons was terrible, the tennis
courts were out in the rain, and
there were only two residence halls
— Christie Hall for the men and Villa
Maria for the women.
My very first night on campus I
worked washing dishes in the Commons to pay for my meals. Washing
dishes came easy to me; there were
three boys in our family and my father
always insisted we do the dishes to
help my mother. I still think I was the fuels, and is responsible for an unconbest dishwasher who ever worked in scionable percentage of this country’s
greenhouse gas emissions. We continthe Commons. And soon I was the
ue to push the concentration of agrionly dishwasher who had the keys
to the Commons, in order to lock it culture past the limits of ethical and
environmental acceptability.
up at night — which meant I never
And the current system to ensure
went hungry.
Food is love to me. This love came the safety of our food is disjointed
from my mother who spent her whole and dysfunctional. It contributes to
the development of an under-nourlife cooking in the kitchen, with me
ished, grossly overweight population
watching every move she made. My
filling up on empty calories. The probmother is now 99 years young and
she is still in the kitchen. Our Sunday lems impact the health of the public
through the food we eat, the air we
dinner table for years and years was
breathe, the water we drink, as well
filled with aunts, uncles, cousins,
strangers, and friends, and I was able as the rivers and streams that support our fish and wildlife. They conto listen to endless stories, to watch
stories be shared, to watch the won- tribute to the increase in the pool of
antibiotic resistance bacteria because
derful meshing of food and stories,
and to understand at an early age the of the overuse of antibiotics. They
power of food to bring people together. impact rural communities and the
It is through the sharing, harvesting, fundamental ethical tenets of our
relationships with the billions of aniand savoring the foods and stories
mals that are raised and slaughtered
of our rich and varied cultures that
maybe, one day somehow, finally, we each year to provide meat and dairy
will eradicate discrimination, bigotry, products for our tables.
While the impacts of factory farmand prejudice.
With Bon Appétit, I wanted to build ing may be far reaching and detrimena company that would make a signifi- tal to many aspects of life in America,
cant difference in our industry — one they are distressingly invisible and
that would see things differently, one unknown to most Americans. We have
crazy enough to think we could uproot become remarkably divorced from the
roots of our food supply. We continue
industry conventions by changing
Portland
6

to harbor romantic notions of a more
pastoral form of agriculture which has
all but disappeared, to be replaced
by the densely packed, windowless
sheds, housing hundreds of thousands of animals who live out their
short lives without ever being able
to exhibit and experience many of
the natural behaviors of their species.
And it’s not only issues of animal
welfare. It’s the exploitation of farm
workers in the country. Nearly two
million workers in America’s fields
labor like machines without rights,
earn sub-living wages, and exist in
dehumanizing circumstances. The
persistence of inhumane conditions
and poverty wages for farm workers
has long been a tragic chapter in the
story of American agriculture.
Experiencing and understanding
all of this served to underscore my
commitment to Bon Appétit’s core
values of sustainability. I have been
outspoken about all these issues
and will continue to fight and stand
until we create an ecological model
that is socially just, environmentally
friendly and economically feasible
for everyone. We all have the power
to change the food system if we just
ate like we give a damn.
Let me make an analogy: four
years ago you arrived as freshmen,
and the seeds were planted; now
you have matured and grown to the
point where you are ready to harvest
the fruits of your education. You are
graduating today in a world where
entrepreneurs will vastly transform
major world sectors of health, transportation, energy and food — and in
the process change our daily lives.
The education you have received
gives you unique status and responsibility to imagine better and make
an impact beyond your borders. We
need you to help restore the beauty
of this earth with justice, hope, and
love.
The chasm between the rich and
the poor is wider than ever before.
Violence is growing at an unchecked
pace. And hunger in the world is
rising to intolerable levels. These
challenges are extraordinary. You
can make a difference to a safer and
healthier world. You have the freedom to think and work expansively,
to reach farther, explore opportunities, take risks, and make a significant
impact. Your possibilities are endless.
Now is the time to stretch your
imagination, to invent, to innovate,
to unleash the ordinary and find
extraordinary…

â&#x2014;&#x2020;

T H E

â&#x2014;&#x2020;

Held at the end of April: Senior Night, during which
about-to-be-graduates gathered for a candlelight
blessing at the bell tower, heard a terrific Last Lecture
from ethicist Dan McGinty, and then savored a beer
with more than fifty of their favorite professors.
Lovely night, moving and funny.

Autumn 2016
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B L U F F

BOB KERNS

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LIFE IN
VILLA
We asked Villa Maria’s Kurt Berning
what’s it actually like to be a residence
hall director, and he said that along with
laughter and craziness and warmth
and friendships there is pain and worry
and prayer. Notes.
One young man worked 80 hours
a week one summer at two different
jobs to save up for fall tuition. He
made enough money to pay that bill,
but couldn’t afford a place to live.
He would sneak into Villa’s basement to sleep on a couch. Somehow
he passed all of his courses that semester. Last summer he got hired as
a hall assistant for the summer. He
graduated in May.
Questions I was asked today: Do you
have duct tape? Can you open up the
trunk room for an extra bed part? Do
you know when our printer in our
computer lab is coming? Did you
know we have two broken washing
machines? What do you want to do
with your life? Do you have a girlfriend? When did we first start wearing kilts in Villa? Kurt — can we talk?
Best resident assistant interviewee
ever: Nick. During his first interview he pulled out a Phil Lumpkin
NBA rookie card, expounded on
how Phil was his former teacher,
and repeated some of Phil’s famous
quotes. I hired him. When he reapplied the next year he brought
along his official RA name tag and
said “If Villa was burning down,
I’d save this name tag first.” I hired
him again.

GOLDFINCHES
A little golden cloud in the sky.
Then they descend, each by each
Or in choirs, as in chapel,
Among the purple-haired thistles.
No one knows what they are saying
In their small voices, but one
Might well guess it’s a kind of
Happiness. Even though all the world
Offers them is a field of seeds.
Sometimes it only takes that much.
— Mary Oliver

After spending his first semester on
The Bluff hiding in his room, Austin
attended hall Mass one night, and
never looked back. He started leading
Zumba sessions in the lobby and
then out on the quad. He organized
Survivor watch parties and a fantasy
Survivor league. One week during
hall council he suggested that residents should hit each other with big
dead fish. His senior year he got
hired as an RA. Among his counsels
to residents: use squirrel pheromones
to attract women.
One young man showed up for his
RA interview in a suit but without
any pants. I did not hire him.
Most interesting visitor last year: a
goat. A resident convinced the mother
of an ex-girlfriend to bring it to the
hall for fun. She offered it to the hall
for $200. The guys wanted to buy two
and start a breeding program. Sadly,
I said no.
One young man from Nebraska
missed his official admissions visit
because he was in the state French
competition. His only other option
was to visit on the very day that students move out of the halls at the
end of April. He never got an official
tour and students were too busy to
talk. So he spent the day helping parents and sons and daughters move
boxes and furniture, and then walked
to Waldschmidt Hall and paid his housing deposit and came here in the fall.
Portland
8

Things I have been told recently: If
you do not move my son into a new
room before this weekend, I’ll drive
down and do it myself! / I can’t believe the transformation I’ve seen in
my son in the past four years. I can’t
thank you enough for all of your hard
work. / My son’s best friend drowned
today and he’s not answering my calls.
Can you check in on him? / I’d really
like to support Villa and improve the
hall. Dream up some ideas for low
five-figure projects and send them
my way. / My son just got out of drug
rehab and has a lot of anxiety about
his freshman year of college. Can
you check in on him often in the
first few weeks?
One of our residents is a young man
from the Congo. His family fled the
country to become refugees in Rwanda. He lived in a refugee camp for 15
years. His family applied for refugee
status in the U.S and was accepted and
placed in Portland, where the University’s president heard his story and
offered him a generous scholarship. At
our annual hall theatrical production
he performed the “Men in Tights”
song from Robin Hood: Men in Tights
with four friends.
How many young men have come to
talk to me at two and three and four
in the morning, about this and that
and the other thing having to do with
pain and grace and loss and joy and
love? More than I can count, more
than I can count...

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Here’s an American story. This is University regent emeritus Carolyn Woo. She was born in Hong Kong. Her family
had fled Communist China, leaving everything behind. She grew up terrified of Communism and famine and
violence and pillaging and dictatorship. Her dream was to go to college in the United States, “and that came to pass,
partly because I memorized part of the dictionary with my nanny’s help and passed the entrance tests for Purdue
University.” She earned three degrees at Purdue and became a professor. She went on to Notre Dame and became
dean of the business school and made it the best business school in America. Then, in 2012, she accepted an epic
job: run Catholic Relief Services worldwide. CRS, founded in 1943 by America’s Catholic bishops to serve war
survivors in Europe, now serves 100 million people in 101 countries. It tries to reach and help and deliver hope to
poor and hammered people all over the world. It tries to deliver little daily hourly miracles all over the world. It’s
an extraordinary organization. Its chief is an extraordinary woman who is proud to be American and proud to try
with all her might to bring attentivenesss and courage and compassion to every broken soul on the planet. That
is an especially American idea, we think. In America we welcome people from all over the world who share and
live that idea, people like the remarkable Carolyn Woo. We would be a smaller meaner lesser country if we ever
stopped doing so. Let us never stop doing so.
Autumn 2016
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COURTESY OF CRS

O N

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BY JOE GLODE FOR STREET ROOTS

NO TIME
LIKE THE
ALWAYS
PRESENT

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brother Jim was serving in Korea. Only
two other African American students
entered with Johnson as freshmen.
But for Johnson, the only actual
drawback was that UP did not have an
art department. So he stepped up his
writing. “Father O’Brien had studied
with Robert Penn Warren at Minnesota, and was really good.” By “good,”
Johnson means rigorous, and he took
classes with O’Brien for four semesters. “He encouraged me by publishing my work in the college literary
magazine.”
After graduation, Johnson taught
eighth grade for two years, got his
draft notice and served two years at
Fort Bliss, on the Texas-Mexico border.

whom graduated, made their way
in the world and still call on him
today.
In 1995, when he retired from
teaching, he had been writing and
publishing poetry — in literary journals, two chapbooks, and several
anthologies — for 25 years.
Finally, as the new century began,
he got down to business: it was time
Harold Johnson ’56 was taking an
to write that novel.
English literature class from Father
The Fort Showalter Blues took 13
Michael O’Brien when he first aspired
years to complete, during which time
to write a novel. And why not? The
Johnson’s work was twice interrupted
dream of going to college had come
by bouts of cancer. But he resttrue, so anything was possible.
ed, was treated — chemo the first
Growing up in Yakima, amidst southtime, radiation the second — and
west Washington’s lush apple and hop
persevered. When the book was
country, he had no idea how or
finally finished
where he would
to his satisfacgo to college.
tion, he did not
“Then Dad died
seek an agent.
in October of my
“Given my age,”
senior year, just
he explains, “I
after he retired
didn’t want to be
from his job as
bothered with
garbage man for
all that.” Instead,
the city,” Johnhe self-publishson recalls. His
ed under the
older brother was
imprint Irving
playing ball in the
Courts, named
Brooklyn Dodgers
for the Irving
farm system, and
Park Tennis
the death left the
Courts. In the
mother with three
long list of ackids still at home
tivities at which
and no means of
Johnson excels,
support.
tennis holds a
A University
key position.
of Portland re And a beautiful
cruiter showed
novel it is. Writup at Yakima
ten with a poet’s
High School and
love of language,
Johnson, an avid
Once discharged, he returned to Port- an artist’s eye for detail, and a mureader of the sports pages, knew
that the Winters brothers — two Af- land to teach, while earning an MAT sician’s ear for dialogue, it tells the
in Painting and Drawing at Portland
story of a young African American
rican Americans with a spectacular
State U.
draftee from Portland who is a virtalent for basketball — both played
Meanwhile, in 1969, Portland Public tuoso trumpet player, and an initiate
for that college.
to the late-fifties racism of the U.S.
“Wayne Durrell was this recruiter’s Schools opened John Adams High
name, and somehow I talked to him. School, at NE 39th and Jessup, launch- armed forces.
‘Oh, yeah, come on down!’ he said.” ing a bold new experiment that gar- At Broadway Books, where he
nered national attention for its con- launched Fort Showalter Blues, John After that first friendly chat, they
wrote each other, and Durrell prom- spicuously non-traditional curriculum. son told the standing-room-only
Each sub-school had a master teacher, crowd about majoring in English on
ised Johnson a loan and a job.
Sure enough, once he arrived in called a director, who worked with the The Bluff.
“I had a friend in one of my classPortland, the University referred him same group of high school students
es, and we both wanted to be novto a downtown parking lot, where he all four years.
elists. Charlie was two years older
worked the 5-10 p.m. shift six nights Out of Adams was born Portland
Night High School, an outreach pro- than I was, and he told me he figured
a week all four years of college. At
night, he studied under the light bulb gram to kids who, for one reason or he could get his novel published by
another, could not fit into convention- the time he was 30. And I remember
hanging in the parking shack.
al high school, and with it was born
feeling sorry for him because he was
In 1952, Johnson’s first year on
going to be so old by then.”
The Bluff, the student body was mostly Johnson’s true calling.
white. The great Jackson Winters had Johnson’s career flowed smoothly Johnson paused for a beat, then
graduated and was playing center for along two channels: writing poetry grinned: “So here I am — at 81!”
and teaching troubled kids, many of
— Martha Gies
the Harlem Globetrotters, and his
Portland
10

O N

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T H E

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B L U F F

Pilot sports story of the summer: All-American Woody Kincaid, gunning for a berth on the Olympic Team headed to
Brazil, ran a Steve Prefontaine race in the 5000-meter Trials final at Eugene’s Hayward Field. He jumped out to the
lead, held it for four laps, and then amazingly tried to pull away from some of the best runners in the world. They
caught him (led by American record-holder Bernard Lagat), and Woody finished eighth, ahead of favorite Galen Rupp,
but no one who saw that race will forget the bold guy in purple. Wow.
Autumn 2016
11

O N
S P O R T S
The Olympics Four alumni were in
Rio in August: soccerists Christine
Sinclair and Sophie Schmidt for Canada
and Megan Rapinoe for the USA, and
Josh Illustre in the 800 meter race for
Guam. Sinclair scored four goals in Rio
and now has 165 goals in international
matches, second all-time only to American Abby Wambach.
Athletic Hall of Fame This year’s
inductees in October: longtime Pilot
women’s basketball coach Jim Sollars
(five times WCC coach of the year),
soccer’s Kasey Keller ’91 (surely the
greatest American goalkeeper ever),
baseball’s Steve Wilson ’85 (who pitched
for the Rangers, Cubs, and Dodgers,
and started a school in Taiwan), golfer
Ryan Nelson ’00 (who has played in
two U.S. Opens), and runner Uli
Steidl ’97 (All-American on The Bluff
who then won the Seattle Marathon
ten times, holds the Portland Marathon record, and just set a record for
fastest climb of Mount Rainier). This
man is not human.
Baseball Drafted by the major league
Milwaukee Brewers in June: junior
catcher Cooper Hummel and senior
pitcher Caleb Whalen. ¶ Among the
new diamondmen this fall: Lake Oswego catcher Dutton Elske, the Oregon player of the year, who hit .565
and called all the pitches. Whew.
Track & Field Four All-Americans for
the Pilots at the NCAA championship
meet: Woody Kinkaid (see page 11)

STEVE WOLTMANN

Let us sing Kaylie Van Loo, who (a)
starts at the point for the women’s
basketball team and earned all-WCC
honors, (b) is an All-American javelin
thrower for the Pilots, and (c) is a business major who earned WCC All-Academic honors. Good heavens.

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set the University record in the 5000
meters and finished ninth in the
nation; Reid Buchanan finished 5th in
the 10,000 meters; Lauren LaRocco
finished 4th in the 10K and 6th in the
5K (!!!); and Kaylie Van Loo (below),
in the first appearance ever for a
javelin-thrower at the national meet,
finished 18th. Wow. And all this
without a track and field for the track
and field program.
Men’s Basketball New coach Terry
Porter’s team will play UCLA in the
annual John Wooden tournament in
LA November 24; the game will be on
an ESPN network. ¶ Among the new
faces for the Pilots this year: Porter’s
sons Malcom (Jesuit High in Portland)
and Franklin (who transferred from St.
Mary’s to play for his dad), and center
Joseph Smoyer from Franklin High
in Portland. ¶ Among Porter’s new
assistant coaches: philosophy major
Kramer Knudson ’11, who helped win
69 games as the Pilots’ starting center,
and then played pro in Switzerland,
Romania, and England (where he
also coached the University of Surrey
men’s and women’s teams). ¶ The
WCC’s best point guard finishes his
career this year; Alec Wintering, all 70
inches of him, averaged 18 points and
5 assists last year, and was essentially
unstoppable. Come see this quicksilver
young man before he graduates.
Women’s Soccer Eight starters return
for the Pilots, led by all-WCC seniors
Ellie Boon and Allison Wetherington.
Garrett Smith ‘88, six times the WCC
coach of the year, starts his 14th year
at the helm; his teams are 208-58-20,
a .762 winning percentage. Whew.
Men’s Soccer New coach Nick CarlinVoigt welcomes a nationally ranked
recruiting class, 10 returning starters,
and all-WCC senior striker Eddie
Sanchez, along with star junior Brandon Zambrano and sophomores Reid
Baez and Lionel Mills, both named to
the WCC all-freshman team. Among
the opponents before they open their
WCC slate: Ohio State.
Women’s Basketball Back for the
Pilots is all-WCC senior guard Kaylie
Van Loo (left), who averaged 8/4/3 last
year with only 1.5 turnovers a game;
she was also named to the league’s
All-Academic team, and is a star on the
University’s track team. Wow. ¶ Busy
summer for assistant coach Drew Muscatell, who led an American college
all-star team on a three-city, nine-game
tour in China, playing teams from
New Zealand, Poland, and China. The
Yanks finished 9-0 record.
Academic Honors 97 of the UniverPortland
12

sity’s 269 student-athletes earned
grades of 3.5 or higher; 22 had perfect
grades, and the average grade was
3.27. The rowing team led everyone,
with 12 rowers named Collegiate
Rowing Coaches Association National
Scholar Athletes, sixth most in the
nation. The annual Founder’s Day
Celebration in April, during which
all classes are canceled and students
present projects publicly, included 21
student-athlete research presentations on environmental science,
engineering, civil engineering, mathematics, English, psychology, business, chemistry, and international
languages and cultures.
Rowing All-WCC Molly Templin ’16
(who finished her academic career
with a 3.88 in biology) was nominated by the NCAA for its national
Woman of the Year Award. Templin
was one of 12 rowers named who
earned 3.5 or better. ¶ The Pilots
finished fourth in the WCC.
Tennis The men, who finished 16-8
and ranked 74th in the nation, will
be led by all-WCC junior Michail Pervolarakis (13-6 at No. 1 singles) and
his all-WCC doubles partner Mathieu
Garcia. For the women, all-WCC sophomores Radina Dimitrova and Tatiana
Grigoryan return, and they welcome
the Serbian national junior champion,
Jelena Lukic, who also played on
Serbia’s junior European title team.
Cross Country & Track among the
new faces for the men, 9th in the
West last year: two-time Kansas cross
country champ Riley Osen. For the
women, also ninth in the West, new
faces include crosscountryists Aoibhe
Richardson from Kilkenny, Ireland;
Mathilde Sagnes from Montauban,
France; Susan Van Weperen from
Oosterwolde, Netherlands; and Lacey
Conner from Saint Mary’s in Portland.
Lacey knows the Pilot program well;
her dad is Pilot men’s coach Rob
Conner. The women will also welcome Washington state 800-meter
champ Natalie Smith from Mount
Baker High in Bellingham.
Volleyball Pilot coach Brent Crouch
led the USA Volleyball Collegiate
National Team to a gold medal in July
at the U22 Global Challenge, held
in Croatia. They defeated England,
Slovenia, and China to take the title.
¶ The women lost all-WCC Emily
Liger to graduation, but return most
everyone else from their 16-win team
of last year. ¶ The beach volleyball
team (the University’s 14th varsity
sport) starts its second WCC season in, fittingly, late summer.

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Carter, is the CEO and founder of
Johnson ’16 (to Lyon) and Douglas
Audibility, Inc., a consumer audio
Blair ’15 (to Lille), both to teach Enheadphones company that aims
glish to French students. Six other
The New Library Dean is Xan Arch, to improve access to hearing aids
University graduates will study
who has been library maven at Reed around the world.
abroad courtesy of the Fulbright
College and Stanford University, and Professor Beer is the cheerful busiFoundation.
who loves ”librarianship as a new way ness teacher Sam Holloway, who has The Annual Becky Houck Award
to connect people with information,” been interviewed about the craft brew- for superb advising of students went
a riveting phrase.
ing boom by endless outlets in recent to sociologist Martin Monto; the
Winner of the “Norwegian Nobel
years — among them Men’s Journal
award honors the late great biology
Prize” in Science this year (the Kavli magazine and Catholic radio station
professor who famously kept her
Prize): Mike Merzenich ’64, for his
KBVM in Portland, for a “Thirsty Cath- office door open until midnight every
work on brain plasticity. Mike also
olics” program. (You could not make
fall for terrified freshmen. Do we
recently shared the American Nathis up.) Sam practices what he
have a Becky Scholarship? Of course
tional Academy of Engineering’s Russ preaches; he is a director and sharewe do. Can you make gifts to it
Prize for his work as the co-inventor
holder in Eugene’s Oakshire Brewery. and to the Houck award fund? Absoof the cochlear implant. Remarkable Away to France this fall, courtesy
lutely — contact Trevor Harvey
unassuming fellow, Michael is, as we of the French government: Kealey
at 503.943.7826, harvey@up.edu.
can personally attest. ¶ Jennifer Snow
Mayo ’16, fresh from earning her education doctorate, was chosen to serve The University was blessed when this man arrived in Oregon in 1998. For the next
15 years, until he retired in 2013, he was the most honest generous witty cheerful
a full-year internship with NASA as
an Albert Einstein Fellow. ¶ Engin- tireless gentle unarrogant Archbishop imaginable, delighted by the vibrant Catholic
university on his doorstep, and by what we could do to help him in his work for
eering graduate Dennis Hartmann
light and love. Most Reverend John Vlazny was back on campus this summer
’71 was elected to the U.S. National
to teach a class, and everyone felt taller and happier when he was here.
Academy of Sciences. A professor
of atmospheric sciences at UWashington, Dennis is internationally renowned for his work on the physics
of greenhouse gases.
The University’s Summer Theater
Troupe, Mock’s Crest Productions,
won two 2016 Drammy Awards, Portland’s annual theater honors: Cassi
Kohl for acting, and grad directing
student Jessica Wallenfels for choreography. Mock’s Crest had a record
five nominations. You must come see
it next June.
The Newest Residence Hall,
the three-storey Lund Family Hall
on the corner of Portsmouth and
Willamette, should fully open in
November. It will be co-ed, house
113 students of all ages, and be all
doubles and triples. It’s named for
wry humble regents chairman Allen
Lund and his wife Kathie’s family;
how apt that students will actually
live in their generosity.
The Best College Value in Oregon,
according to Money magazine: us.
Money lauded the University’s health
sciences, accounting, and entrepreneurship programs, and noted with
interest that a quarter of UP students
come from low-income families.
The University’s First Biomedical
Engineering Degrees were earned
this spring; the first 11 students studied technical, scientific, medical, business, and management aspects of the
healthcare industry. The program includes a 3-course sequence that allows
students to develop and market a
medical device. One graduate, Brian
Autumn 2016
13

ADAM GUGGENHEIM

B R I E F LY

A
MUSLIM
IN THE
GRAY
ZONE
The University’s
Schoenfeldt
Writer on the
absolutely
unConstitutional
and immoral
bigotry toward
America’s
own citizens.
We do exactly
what the thugs
want when
we fear and
demonize
each other.
by Laila Lalami

Portland
14

GETTY IMAGES/PHOTOGRAPHER: HASSAN AMMAR

S

ome months ago, I gave a reading
from my most recent novel in Arizona. During the discussion that
followed, a woman asked me to talk
about my upbringing in Morocco.
It’s natural for readers to be curious
about a writer they’ve come to hear,
I told myself. I continued to tell myself this even after the conversation
drifted to Islam, and then to ISIS.
Eventually, another woman raised
her hand and said that the only Muslims she saw when she turned on
the television were extremists. “Why
aren’t we hearing more from people
like you?” she asked me.
“You are,” I said with a nervous
laugh. “Right now.” I wanted to tell
her that there were plenty of ordinary Muslims in this country. We
come in all races and ethnicities.
Some of us are more visible by virtue
of beards or head scarves. Others
are less conspicuous, unless they
give book talks and it becomes clear
that they, too, identify as Muslims.
To be fair, I’m not a very good
Muslim. I don’t perform daily
prayers anymore. I have never been
on a pilgrimage to Mecca. I partake
of the forbidden drink. I do give to
charity whenever I can, but I imagine that this would not be enough
to save me were I to have the misfortune, through an accident of
birth or migration, to live in a place
like Raqqa, Syria, where in the
last two years, the group variously
known as Daesh, ISIL, or ISIS has
established a caliphate: a successor
to past Islamic empires. Life in
Raqqa reportedly follows rules that
range from the horrifying to the absurd: The heads of people who have
been executed are posted on spikes
in the town’s main square; women
must wear a niqab and be accompanied by a male companion when
they go out; smoking and swearing
are not allowed; chemistry is no
longer taught in schools and traffic
police are not permitted to have
whistles because ISIS considers them
un-Islamic.
As part of its efforts to spread its
message outside the territory it controls, ISIS puts out an English-language magazine, Dabiq, which can
be found online. In February, Dabiq
featured a 12-page article, complete
with high-resolution photos and multiple footnotes, cheering the terrorist
attacks of Sept. 11 and claiming that
they made manifest for the world
two camps: the camp of Islam under
the caliphate and the camp of the
West under the crusaders. The article
ran under the title “The Extinction

GETTY IMAGES / PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANADOLU AGENCY

of the Grayzone.” The gray zone is
the space inhabited by any Muslim
who has not joined the ranks of either
ISIS or the crusaders. Throughout
the article, these Muslims are called
“the grayish,” “the hypocrites” and,
for variety, “the grayish hypocrites.”
On Nov. 13, men who had sworn
allegiance to ISIS struck the city of
Paris, killing 130 people at different
locations mostly in the 10th and 11th
arrondissements, neighborhoods that
are known for their multiculturalism.
As soon as I heard about the attacks,
I tried to reach a cousin of mine, who
is studying in Paris. I couldn’t. I spent
the next two hours in a state of
crushing fear until he posted on
Facebook that he was safe. Relieved,
I went back to scrolling through my
feed, which is how I found out that
my friend Najlae Benmbarek, a Moroccan journalist, lost her cousin. A
recently married architect, Mohamed
Amine Ibnolmobarak was eating
dinner with his wife at the Carillon
restaurant when an ISIS terrorist
killed him.
It was probably not a coincidence
that the Paris attacks were aimed
at restaurants, a concert hall, and
a sports stadium, places of leisure
and community, nor that the victims
included Muslims. As Dabiq makes
clear, ISIS wants to eliminate coexistence between religions and to
create a response from the West that
will force Muslims to choose sides:
either they “apostatize and adopt”
the infidel religion of the crusaders
or “they perform hijrah to the Islamic State and thereby escape persecution from the crusader governments
and citizens.” For ISIS to win, the
gray zone must be eliminated.
Whose lives are gray? Mine, certainly. I was born in one nation
(Morocco) speaking Arabic, came
to my love of literature through a
second language (French) and now
live in a third country (America),
where I write books and teach classes
in yet another language (English). I
have made my home in between
all these cultures, all these languages,
all these countries. And I have found
it a glorious place to be. My friends
are atheists and Muslims, Jews and
Christians, believers and doubters.
Each one makes my life richer.
This gray life of mine is not
unique. I share it with millions of
people around the world. My brother
in Dallas is a practicing Muslim —
he prays, he fasts, he attends mosque
— but he, too, would be considered
to be in the gray zone, because he
despises ISIS and everything it
stands for.

Most of the time, gray lives go
unnoticed in America. Other times,
especially when people are scared,
gray lives become targets. Hate
crimes against Muslims spike after
every major terrorist attack. But
rather than stigmatize this hate, politicians and pundits often stoke it
with fiery rhetoric, further diminishing the gray zone. Every time the
gray zone recedes, ISIS gains ground.
The language that ISIS uses may
be new, but the message is not. When
President George W. Bush spoke to
a joint session of Congress after the
terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, he declared, “Either you are with us or
you are with the terrorists.” It was
a decisive threat, and it worked well
for him in those early, confusing
days, so he returned to it. “Either
you are with us,” he said in 2002, “or
you are with the enemy. There’s no
in between.” This polarized thinking
led to the United States invasion of
Iraq, which led to the destabilization
of the Middle East, which in turn
led to the creation of ISIS.
Terrorist attacks affect all of us in
the same way: We experience sorrow
and anger at the loss of life. For
Muslims, however, there is an additional layer of grief as we become
subjects of suspicion. Muslims are
called upon to condemn terrorism,
but no matter how often or how loud
or how clear the condemnations, the
calls remain. Imagine if, after every
mass shooting in a school or a movie
theater in the United States, young
white men in this country were told
that they must publicly denounce
gun violence. The reason this is not
the case is that we presume each
young white man to be solely responsible for his actions, whereas Muslims
are held collectively responsible.
To be a Muslim in the West is to be
constantly on trial.
The attacks in Paris have generated the same polarization as all previous attacks have. Even though most
of the suspects were French and
Belgian nationals who could have
gained entry to the United States
on their passports, Republican governors in 30 states say that they will
refuse to take in any refugees from
Syria without even more stringent
screening. Barely two days after the
attacks, Jeb Bush told CNN’s Jake
Tapper that the United States should
focus its efforts only on helping
Syrian refugees who are Christian.
Ted Cruz went a step further, offering to draft legislation that would
ban Muslim Syrian refugees from
the United States. When he was asked
by Dana Bash of CNN what would
Autumn
2016
17

have happened to him if his father,
a Cuban refugee who was fleeing
communism, had been refused entry, he implied that it was a different situation because of the special
risks associated with ISIS.
As it happens, I am married to a
son of Cuban refugees. Like Cruz’s
father, they came to this country
because America was a safe haven.
What would have been their fate
if an American legislator said that
they could not be allowed in because
the Soviet Union was trying to infiltrate the United States?
The other day, my daughter said
to me, “I want to be president.” She
has been saying this a lot lately, usually the morning after a presidential
debate, when our breakfast-table conversation veers toward the elections.
My daughter is 12. She plays the
violin and the guitar; she loves math
and history; she’s quick-witted and
sharp-tongued and above all she’s
very kind to others. “I’d vote for you,”
I told her. And then I looked away,
because I didn’t have the heart to
tell her that half the people in this
country — in her country — say they
would not vote for a Muslim presidential candidate.
I worry about her growing up in
a place where some of the people
who are seeking the highest office
in the land cannot make a simple
distinction between Islam and ISIS,
between Muslim and terrorist. Ben
Carson said he “would not advocate
that we put a Muslim in charge of
this nation.”
Right now, my daughter still has
the innocence and ambition that are
the natural attributes of the young.
But what will happen when she
comes of age and starts to realize
that her life, like mine, is constantly
under question? How do you explain
to a child that she is not wanted in
her own country? I have not yet had
the courage to do that. My daughter
has never heard of the gray zone,
though she has lived in it her entire
life. Perhaps this is my attempt at
keeping the world around all of us as
gray as possible. It is a form of resistance, the only form of resistance
I know.
Laila Lalami, the University’s Schoenfeldt Series Visiting Writer this past
spring, is the author most recently of
the novel The Moor’s Account, the
University’s Campus Reads selection
in 2016. The 2017 Campus Reads is
Anthony Doerr’s novel All the Light
We Cannot See, and the author will
be on campus on February 27. Details:
Michele Leasor, leasor@up.edu.

THEIR
BRUISED
GRACE
Photographs by Michael Schmitt
The Macdonald Center (renamed the Maybelle Center this past summer) in
Portland’s Old Town was founded 25 years ago by an ebullient exuberant
energetic empathetic electric Holy Cross priest named Dick Berg. As pastor of
what is now Saint Andre Bessette Church (named for the Holy Cross saint who
said memorably I am only the wire who transmits blessings), Dick discovered
what he called the city’s “invisible people” — men and women who lived under
bridges, in shelters, in single-room-occupancy hotels and low-income housing,
people who were often isolated, lonely, disabled, and ignored by the general
populace. Dick organized volunteers, in teams of two, to visit these folks,
coordinating the work as a non-profit entity; in 1999, hugely assisted by the late
Maybelle Clark Macdonald, the Center opened a new 54-unit assisted-living
facility for low-income people with disabilities. In 2012 the Center opened a 42unit low-income facility complete with first-floor offices for the staff. And today
the Maybelle Center serves not only its 96 residents but 377 other “clients,”
several of whom appear here, courtesy of the fine Portland photographer
Michael Schmitt. ¶ The mission is simple: respect, safety, support, dignity,
shelter, attention, witness, community. Christ liveth in me, said the prickly
genius Saint Paul of Tarsus; and of course Christ liveth in each and every one
of us. If we say we believe in the Christ, says Dick Berg, then the Christ is honored in all beings, and we owe that holiness our reverence, witness, the prayer
of our attentiveness and our love. That is what the Maybelle Center has
done for 25 years, and by the grace of the Mercy will do for another hundred
or two. ¶ Over the last quarter of a century countless University students,
faculty, staff, and friends have lent their energies, creativity, and generosity
to the Center — most recently University president Father Mark Poorman, C.S.C., and nursing professor emeritus Susan Moscato, both of whom
served on the Center’s board. The work is crucial, brave, hard, tiring, gentle,
and holy. On this active communal prayer we ask the blessings of the One,
and untold showers of generosity from everyone else. — Editor

Fr. Dick Berg, C.S.C.

Sid

Jacqueline

Dennis

Mark

Mr Lincoln
He gave his
life for the
extraordinary
American idea.
Do not let
that idea die.

H

e oversaw a savage war in which
many hundreds of thousands of American boys and men died and hundreds of battles were fought on American soil and in American waters.
Many thousands of boys and men
from other countries died in the
horrors also. Many thousands of girls
and women were injured and raped
and terrorized and hammered and
haunted the rest of their days. He
was often a melancholic man riven
by sadness. He was so deeply private
and guarded about his deepest feelings that even the people who knew
him best did not know the bottomless depths of his faith in a Coherent
Mercy. According to one friend he
was utterly hapless at reading faces
and motivations in others, though
he was possessed of the deepest and
most extraordinary empathy. Two
of his three sons died as boys and he
never recovered from such grievous
losses of those he loved. He was
sometimes so blunt and artless that
people thought he was playing games
upon their credulity. He loved lewd
and vulgar and inane and rude jokes
and laughed uproariously at them
no matter what the company or the
setting. He was apparently incapable
of lying or disseminating or bending
the truth. He said himself that he was
all his life a fatalist, and believed that
the Lord would make of him such a
tool as was necessary for the times
at hand. He was a poor manager of
money and among the least ambitious
of men as regards the getting and
keeping of same, which is why he was
always in debt or teetering on its
precipice. He was by every account
a homely man, with a bristling tangle
of hair, and a lanky face like a cliff

of riven granite, and hands like the
gnarled branches of an old tree. He
was so cautious and meticulous and
patient in his thinking that some
people meeting him for the first time
thought him simple.
He was not simple in the least.
He was the only man I ever knew the
foundation of whose spirit was love,
wrote a friend. He liked to carry his
son on his shoulder and they walked
everywhere hand in hand. He supervised and agonized over the war that
murdered hundreds of thousands of
people because he could not stand
the idea of Americans not walking
hand in hand toward the extraordinary country we could be, a country
unlike any other that ever was, a
country where all citizens are free
to speak their hearts, and gather as
they like, and worship whatever
shape of holiness they perceive or
imagine, and offer their love to whom
they like. He would not allow his
beloved country to fly apart because
of greed and lies, and for that he was
murdered by a man whose greatest
wish was to tear America in half.
It is a foul and evil lie of the mind
and the heart and the mouth and the
soul to account someone less because
of his or her color or religion or gender or preference in lovers. That is a
squirming lie, no matter how often,
and at what volume, it is repeated.
It is an ancient lie and it has cursed
our species for a million years and
God willing it will be quelled and
squelched and forgotten in the years
to come. It will be squelched not by
laws and regulations, not by political
or religious or judicial powers, but by
shivers of dawning light in the hearts
of men and women and children in
Portland
24

this country who begin to dimly understand that Abraham Lincoln was
the greatest of Americans not because
he won a war, not because he gave
his blood and his life for justice and
freedom, but because the foundation
of his spirit was love, and he acted
that way. He was a devout man who
called no one religion his home. As
every religion claims to be an agent
of holiness, so every political party
claims to be the avatar of the best
and deepest aspects of the American
character and idea; but if that were
so, we would begrudgingly hold
hands, and reluctantly agree that we
are equal each to each, and must
treat each other with honesty and
humility; that we will, by the grace
of the profligate gifts granted us as
Americans, stand for and speak for
and defend and protect freedom anywhere and everywhere it is savaged;
that we will continue to, as we have
for centuries, open our golden door
for the tired and the poor, the huddled masses, the wretched of the
world, and here let them breathe
free; and that differences in color
and gender and religion and preference in love matter not at all when
it comes to treating each other with
respect and reverence. Those who
fan and foment differences murder
the revolutionary American idea,
and ought to cower and gibber in
shame in the vast shadow cast by
Mr Abraham Lincoln, Republican
of Kentucky, who gave his life for
that idea.
Brian Doyle is the editor of this magazine, and the author most recently
of The Kind of Brave You Wanted
to Be, a collection of â&#x20AC;&#x153;proemsâ&#x20AC;?.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS PHOTO

By Brian Doyle

The death
penalty does
not deter crime,
innocent people
are tortured
and murdered,
and the Bible
does not excuse
and defend it.
A death row
chaplain speaks
bluntly.
By Dale Recinella

T

he death penalty is a carryover
from before the Bronze Age. Who
would have imagined that in the 21st
century, in the most technologically
advanced country in the world, in a
society that put people on the moon
long ago, we would still be using techniques from five thousand years ago
as an answer to violent crime?
I used to be a supporter of the death
penalty. I didn’t know anything
about it. That’s the only way you can
support the death penalty — to not
know a thing about it. Because if you
know anything about the death penalty, your support becomes qualified.
“Well, I don’t support the execution
of the innocent, I don’t support public
executions…” But then what you’re
supporting isn’t our death penalty.
You’re supporting a myth that doesn’t
exist. But, see, I didn’t know that;
I didn’t know anything. I used to say,
“I support the death penalty! It’s the
least we can do for the poor family of
the victim!.” I had no idea that it was
absolutely the least we could do for
the families of the murder victims.
My change of heart came courtesy
of the bishops of Florida, who asked
me to write a brief for a death penalty
case at the Florida Supreme Court.
The bishops had never filed a brief
in a death penalty case before. I
dropped everything else I was doing
and for ninety days immersed myself
in the death penalty. What a horror
show. I could not have imagined, as
a practicing lawyer, that the legal
structure whereby a democratic government takes the life of a citizen
would be anything less than surgically precise. It would, I had imagined, guarantee that only the
worst of the worst, only those who
truly without any doubt had to be
guilty, would be executed. But I was
horrified. The reality of what a Rube
Goldberg contraption the American
death penalty system actually is horrified me. By the end of those ninety
days I knew that as a lawyer I could
not in any way, shape, or form support this legal monstrosity.
How had I not known this? Had
my church said anything about it? I
was shocked to find out that yes, the
Autumn
2016
27

Catholic bishops of the United States
had been trying to kill the death
penalty for years. They had launched
a formal campaign against the death
penalty in 1980 because it violates
everything we believe about the value
of human life.
Then I almost died. It’s a long
story, but I was told by my doctor that
I wouldn’t see the next morning. I
kissed my wife Susan goodbye. Our
pastor gave me the last rites. And
then I had the most amazing experience: I found myself standing before
Christ. He wanted to know what the
heck I was doing with His gifts. And
I had to say I was only making piles
of money. And then He asked me
this: What about My people who are suffering? And I knew, I tell you I knew,
in the center of my being, how selfish,
how self-centered, how narcissistic
my life was. My selfishness became
so overwhelming to me that I couldn’t
bear it. And I looked at Him and said
“Give me another chance and I will do
it different. I promise.” I don’t remember anything else from that night,
but I awoke in the morning, healed.
My wife and I went to a soup kitchen
and started helping serve meals to
the homeless, which led to getting
to know the homeless, which led to
realizing that a huge percentage of
them were severely mentally ill,
which meant getting into working
with them as mentally ill people,
which meant finding out that an
awful lot of them were also veterans,
and ill with AIDS.
One day I got a call from a prison
chaplain. “Brother Dale,” he says,
“I’ve heard about the things you’re
doing in the streets of Tallahassee.
It’s a marvel what God has given you
to do. Now, Brother Dale, I’ve got two
thousand men in my prison, and
nearly half are HIV positive, and I’ve
got men dying, and I can’t get any
Christians to come in and minister
to them ‘cause they’re all scared! But
you’re not scared. Will you come to
my prison and take care of my inmates who are dying of AIDS?” And
God help me, I did the Christian punt,
as we call it down South. “I cannot
tell you how honored I am that you
would think God could call me to

THE ONLY
WAY YOU
CAN
SUPPORT
THE
DEATH
PENALTY
IS TO NOT
KNOW
A THING
ABOUT IT

GETTY IMAGES / PHOTOGRAPHER: ELIZA SNOW

this,” I said. “I will put it before the
Lord and pray about it.” And I hung
up and I turned to Susan and I said,
“Absolutely not! There is no way God
would ever ask me to go into a prison!
I have trouble being in an elevator
when the door closes!”
Well — be careful what you teach
your children. I came home a few
days later and my wife and children
were at the table with their bibles
open, reading aloud: What you do for
the least of my brethren, you do for me
... I went to prison, and I’ve never
gotten out since.
The cells on Death Row in Florida
are six feet wide and nine feet deep.
You can see the person in the cell
through a steel mesh. You can stand
there and talk, you can even give
communion through the holes in the
mesh. Don’t try to give the ashes
through mesh for Ash Wednesday,
though — you’ll spill them all over.
I learned that. For Ash Wednesday
you ask the officers to open the
food-flap hole in the door, and you
kneel on the concrete, and the inmate kneels on the concrete.
Six feet wide... Most of the guys
I see in Death Row can stand in the
middle of their cell and touch both
walls with their fingertips. There’s
a steel toilet in the corner and the
top of the toilet is a sink. There is a
steel shelf with a wafer-thin mattress
on it. That’s the bunk. There’s no airconditioning on Death Row. It gets to
be 130 degrees on Death Row.
Question: What’s our standard of
care for human beings whom we are
holding in cages until we kill them?
What is our duty as human beings,
one human being to another, in
taking care of human beings whom
we hold in cages until we kill them?
Another question: What if it was
somebody in your family in one of
those cells?
I never expected to do more than
just go cell to cell, to all 400 men on
death row. Not just Catholics; Florida’s
Catholic bishops had made it very
clear to me that I was to go to every
cell and make sure that every man
knew that the church values his life
as a gift from God, no matter what
he believes or doesn’t. Then I got a
call one day from the warden. Brother
Dale! This time it was a man about
to be executed who had asked for me
to be his spiritual advisor. His death
was five weeks away. I was to get
him ready to be on the receiving end
of a homicide. The death certificate
after an execution says CAUSE OF
DEATH: HOMICIDE.

Ten percent of the people on death
row in the United States are men and
women who served in the armed
forces and came back severely traumatized and with PTSD. Ten percent.
Here’s one: a highly decorated Air
Force crewman in Vietnam. He had
his leg shot out from under him, he
lost his leg, but he used his weapon
to keep snipers away from his badly
wounded crew, and he saved their
lives. When he was later found guilty
of a murder, the prosecutor used the
description of his valor in battle to
convince the jury that a man who
was this fearless was too dangerous
to have in open society and he needed to be sentenced to death.
Three retired generals spoke out
on Veteran’s Day last year and called
on Congress to investigate why prosecutors in death-penalty states are
using the service records and heroism medals of our veterans to get
death sentences for them. Question:
why is it that generals only speak
out honestly after they are retired?
Why is that?
The death penalty is a welfare work
program for state lawyers. The money’s not on the federal side, you know.
The death penalty is where careers
are made. That’s the truth. Follow the
money. And did you know, as Oregon
taxpayers, that if you canceled the
death penalty, you’d save almost thirty
million dollars? You have the death
penalty here; you just don’t use it. But
you still pay for it.
I saw a man be executed. I watched
him writhe and arch in agony on the
gurney for over half an hour. Yes, I
watched as a man was tortured to
death by the State of Florida. I still
have nightmares. My predecessor,
Father Joe, he had nightmares, too.
He watched a man be electrocuted
by the State of Florida. Flames were
shooting from the man’s head. He
burned to death, screaming. Father
Joe never could get those screams
out of his head after that.
The late Justice Antonin Scalia, God
rest his soul, and Justice Clarence
Thomas both have written legal opinions saying that the death penalty
executes innocent people. Both explained that because the criminal
justice system is a human system, it
makes mistakes, and the only way to
be sure we do not execute innocent
people is to get rid of the death penalty. But that’s not a job for the Supreme Court, they said. That’s a job
for state legislatures. Let me tell you
something, though. If you have the

death penalty, you will have botched
executions, because executions are
done by human beings and human
beings make mistakes. People tell
me they support the death penalty
but they don’t support executing the
innocent. My answer is that they are
supporting a fantasy. The death penalty they support doesn’t exist. In
Florida we’ve had one person exonerated for every three people executed
over the last forty years. That’s the
death penalty we’ve got. You’re for
the death penalty? You’re for electrocutions, hangings, firing squads,

The Catholic
bishops of the
United States
have been
trying to
kill the death
penalty for
years because
it violates
everything
we believe
about the
value of
human life.
injections? You’re for botched electrocutions, hangings, firing squads,
injections? You’re for torturing and
murdering innocent people?
Why am I in Oregon? Because of Supreme Court math. The way the U.S.
Supreme Court decides if a punishment is no longer constitutionally acceptable, because in the process of a
maturing society our level of human
decency and dignity has risen to the
point that we no longer accept it, is by
looking at how many states still have
that punishment on their statutes and
how many states don’t. If they looked
at how many states are actually using
the death penalty, it would already
be gone. But they look at how many
states have it on the books as a law,
as an option that they can use if they
decide to. When the number of states
that don’t have it on their law books
anymore becomes more than the
number of states that have it, it’s no
longer constitutionally acceptable
under the Eighth Amendment applied
Autumn
2016
29

to the states through the Fourteenth.
That’s why I’m here. You’ve got a
death penalty law in Oregon that’s
costing you a fortune. You haven’t
had an execution since 1997. You’ve
got thirty-four people on death row.
Surely you can keep track of thirtyfour people in a maximum-security
in prison. You know how to make
sure they don’t kill again. If you could
get rid of your death penalty, we’re
one notch closer to getting rid of it in
Florida. I need for you to join the fight
to abolish, repeal through a referendum, the death penalty in Oregon
so that I don’t have to watch people
writhe and scream and die anymore
through a glass window from the
witness room.
One last note: anyone who quotes the
Bible to support the death penalty
isn’t reading the Bible in context. I’ve
heard it all: An eye for an eye, a life for
life, and Any man who takes a man’s
life, by man shall his life be taken, and
If thou be an evil doer, be afraid of government for government is the agent of
God to bear the sword to avenge God’s
wrath, and my favorite, John 19, the
Passion of Christ, where Pilate says to
Christ, Don’t you realize that I have
the power of life and death over you?
and what’s quoted so often to me is
Jesus’ reply, You would not have such
power if it had not been given to you by
my father. Those are the big four. If
you go to Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and say “I want to debate the death penalty,” those are the
four scriptures they will bring up.
But we don’t, as a society, actually
exchange tooth for tooth, burn for
burn, eye for eye, limb for limb, do
we? That would be barbaric, we agree.
We just do life for life. That’s not barbaric? We wouldn’t cut someone’s
legs and arms off, but we would cut
off a life? Where’s the intellectual
honesty there? Are we to ignore the
Ten Commandments? And what of
the other commands in the Bible,
such as you shall be put to death if
you eat rare meat? Cherrypicking
quotes you like to support your argument is an old game, but it’s not
a very honest one.
Dale Recinella is the Catholic chaplain
on Florida’s death row, in Tallahassee.
He is the author of the exhaustive
The Biblical Truth About the Death
Penalty and Now I Walk on Death
Row: A Wall Street Finance Lawyer
Stumbles Into the Arms of a Loving
God. He was a guest of the University’s
Garaventa Center for American Catholic Life in March; this essay is drawn
from his moving speech that night.

things that silence me
“I love you,” he said.
“You are miracles and
I love you, I love you,
I love you...”

S

pecifically, I am stunned and
silenced by the miracles and horrors
borne and witnessed by my students
and fellow teachers.
Some of the horrors are eating
disorders. Razor scars on arms. Broken, swollen, yellow hands from
punching walls and doors and the
cinder-block side of the school. The
casual way my students talk about
the drugs they use. The terrified and
awed and heartbroken ways they
talk about the drugs their parents
use. The Monday-morning hangovers
that no longer surprise me. The matter-of-factness with which one young
woman tells me she spent all night
partying with the shipyard guys.
Didn’t quit partying till dawn. Ship
guys are hot, she said.
Here are some of the miracles:
Paige goes to treatment for two
months and gains 20 pounds, despite
the war inside her head. Shawna
wears short sleeves and lets people
ask about the angry purple lines
on her arms. Sandy can still hold
a pencil despite the bandage on her
hand, and she keeps writing stories.
They keep trying to kick the drugs.
They keep answering the phones
when their parents call, and they
say “I love you” when they hang up.
Even when they are hung-over they
come to my class to read books. Kat,
the young woman who stayed up
all night partying and did not sleep,
came from the shipyard straight to
my class to read books.
Here are some more horrors: So
many of my students talk about de-

pression that it no longer seems like
a disease. So many of them tell me
they’ve thought about killing themselves, and so many have tried, that
I take that information in stride. One
young man, Sheldon, tried to kill himself by taking so many pills I don’t
even remember the number, even
though at the time I thought it would
be one of those numbers that tattooed
itself on my brain. Another shaggyhaired, blue-eyed young man, Colton,
did kill himself by shooting himself
in the head with a shotgun while his
dad and brother were downstairs
watching TV. His brother ran up and
found Colton amidst splatter and gun
smoke. Colton’s dad, a stoic blue-collar man with muscly hands, wept for
days. Colton’s mom came into the
office at school two days later and
did not shed a tear. Just weeks ago
another young man, Austin, killed
himself. He was 17.
More miracles: They keep fighting
the depression, almost all of them.
They fight it by talking about it.
They fight it with stories. Melissa
scribbled in her journal just two
days ago, “I write to battle the hate.”
Sheldon fought it at the very last
second on Twitter, and his friend
saw the desperate tweet and drove
to Sheldon, and called 9-1-1, and
sat with him until the ambulance
raced him away. Two days after
Colton died I walked into the principal’s office and I saw Colton’s Carhartt coveralls, the ones he wore in
Ag-Mech, folded neatly on the floor

Portland
30

by the principal’s desk. There was
a note on them that said, “Sam.”
Sam is Colton’s dad.
When a student dies, the district
office emails each teacher a careful
and benign one-paragraph statement,
and tells us in which period we
should read it to our students. When
Austin died, my friend Olsen got
the one-paragraph statement via
email. When the rest of Olsen’s
students arrived for class, he faced
them across Austin’s bellowing
empty desk.
But Olsen did not read the statement. He looked at his students very
seriously and he told them Austin was
dead. And then he walked to the
desk of a young woman in the front
row and he took her hand and he
looked square in her eyes and he
told her exactly why he was happy
to have her in his class. Then he
went to the next desk and took the
next student’s hand and looked in
his eyes. He spend the rest of the
class period making certain that
each of his students knew why he
valued them, and knew that if one
day they doubted their worth, and
decided to remove themselves from
the planet, he for one would weep
salty heartbroken tears. He had different words for each student, but
the words meant the same thing.
I love you, he told them. You are
miracles and I love you, I love you,
I love you.
Jeremiah O’Hagan is a writer and
teacher in Washington state.

A NEW
SORT OF
REST
On trying to pray the Rosary
again, after fifteen years and
so many scars...

By Erin White

AP PHOTO / STEVEN SENNE, FILE

n a morning last September I
stood in a fallow field trying to pray
the Rosary. I say trying because it
had been fifteen years since I last
prayed the Rosary, so now I fumbled
with the beads and lost track of the
prayers as crickets bumped against
my legs and wild turkeys watched
from the field’s wooded edge. I was
crying while I tried to pray, and
laughing when I forgot the words
and had to rummage for my notes,
and dropping the rosary beads in
the dirt. But at least I was standing,
which was better than the days before, when I went to the field with
my rosary beads only to lay down on
the ground, tears rolling into my ears.
I first learned to pray the Rosary
when I was twenty-four and converting to Catholicism. I was a striver,
and so I memorized the prayers and
recited them each morning. But after
my conversion I fell in love with a
woman, and no longer felt welcome
in what is supposed to be the home
for all hearts. I put away the rosary
beads, and over time I relinquished
the Catholic Church entirely. When
my three-year-old daughter found
my rosary beads in a drawer and
asked if she could have them I told
her she could.
But then my friend James Foley
was killed and I needed my rosary
beads again. People were surprised
to learn I knew Jim. “Were you close?”
they asked skeptically. I don’t blame
them. I live in rural Massachusetts.
I volunteer in the school garden. It
seemed unlikely that the first American executed by the fundamentalist murderers called Daesh would be
my close friend. But I said, “Yes, we
were close.”
I met Jim in 2000, when we
were both twenty-seven years old.
After a few shared workshops he
and his friends asked me to be in
their writing group. They were a
year ahead of me in school, so their
invitation was both flattering and
intimidating. What if they didn’t
like my story? What if they didn’t
like me? At our first meeting Jim
drank my beer because I was too
nervous to drink and Shauna pushed
her plate of fries across the table
to me. They let me in on all their
running jokes, and told me how
much they liked my story. Later,
when we were walking to our cars,
Jim said, “It was cool, having you,”
and he put up his hand for a high
five, closed his fingers around
mine, pulled me toward him for
a moment. For the first time since
I had arrived at school I felt the joy
of belonging.

I began to meet with them each
week, at their apartments, in bars,
in empty classrooms. Sometimes
I could coax everyone to my house,
which was two towns over from campus. On those days I spent the afternoon cooking when I should have
been writing, chopping vegetables
and re-reading Julia Child’s instructions on how to truss a chicken.
When everyone arrived they would
exclaim over the smells from the
kitchen, teasing me about my domesticity, about my spice rack and
houseplants and claw-foot bathtub.
I didn’t even pretend to mind.
These four were the friends I’d
been looking for, because they were
gifted and gracious writers, and also
because they were Catholics, living
somewhere in the land between practicing and lapsed. I admired the ease
with which they wrote about belief —

both fervent and diminished. I didn’t
tell any of them about my botched
conversion, and we didn’t often speak
about faith. But they were natives
in a world I still longed to enter, and
while this sometimes made me jealous, it also made them all the easier
to love.
Jim went on to journalism school;
I had a baby. By the time my second
daughter was born, Jim had been
an embed in Afghanistan and a freelancer in Iraq. And when that baby
turned two, Jim was taken captive
in Libya and held for forty-four days.
After his release, I wanted him to
stay home. Why not get a desk job,
meet a nice girl, file stories about
climate change and campaign finance
reform? I didn’t actually say these
things to Jim. I cried with relief, but
I didn’t call him. From what I could
tell he now had millions of friends

— creative, connected, political
friends — all over the world. His life
seemed so big, while mine felt both
overwhelming and mundane. My
world was my children and my marriage and the writing I was trying to
do and not getting done. I didn’t know
what any of that could mean to Jim.
When, in 2012, I got the email telling me Jim had been taken captive
in Syria, I was annoyed. Really, Jim?
That’s what I remember thinking.
Syria? Annoyance helped to mask
the sinking terror. I didn’t see how
anyone — even Jim — could be lucky
enough to be released twice.
I was on vacation when I got the
news of Jim’s death. It was Shauna
who called. “It’s Jimmy,” she said in
her message. “It’s bad news. Call me,
and don’t go on the Internet.”
For a little while I followed Shauna’s advice. But after we returned

I saw it in print. I once had a friend
with that name. One night I found
an interview from the days after
Jim returned from Libya. Jim told
the interviewer that he prayed the
Rosary every day of his captivity,
keeping track of the prayers on his
knuckles because he didn’t have
beads. He knew his mother and
grandmother would also be praying
the Rosary, and he wanted to reach
them though those prayers. I didn’t
finish reading the interview. I got up
from the computer and went into
my sleeping daughter’s room.
I found my rosary beads on her
dresser, although their crucifix was
missing; she had taken it off and
glued it above the doorway of her toy
chicken coop. I took the beads to the
living room and for a long time I just
held them, a pool of wooden beads
in my palm. I tried to remember the
Rosary’s prayers, but couldn’t recall
even one. I felt like an imposter. I
started walking back to my daughter’s
room to put the beads away, but then
I stopped. I had lost so many chances
to reach Jim, what if this was my last?
I went to the computer, and Googled
“praying the Rosary.” I wrote out all
the prayers on small pieces of paper
that I could keep with me during the
day. I taped The Apostle’s Creed to
the fridge. I propped the Hail Holy
Queen against a hand shovel while I
weeded the garden. I felt foolish but
kept at it; giving myself a few lines
to learn each day and then adding
a few more the next, like sections of
cloth I was sewing together.
It takes a while to pray the Rosary,
which is how I ended up in the field
on that September morning. I didn’t
want to be interrupted. I didn’t want
anyone to know what I was doing,
considering I didn’t know what I was
doing. After I fumbled and wept my
way through the first prayers (the
Apostles’ Creed, an Our Father, three
Hail Marys and a Glory Be) I wiped
my tears on my sleeve, determined
to make it all the way through. I
checked my notes and went on to
reciting Mysteries. The Mysteries
are the defining events of Jesus’ life.
There are twenty in all, divided into
four groups: Sorrowful, Luminous,
Joyful, and Glorious. Each day of the
week has a set of Mysteries assigned
to it, but I had decided to stick with
the Luminous ones because Jim was
nothing if not luminous. I conjured
the first Luminous Mystery — the
baptism of Jesus. I recited the ten
accompanying Hail Marys. I recited
the Glory Be.
After the first mystery I wasn’t
crying, and I was moving fast. I was
Autumn
2016
35

onto the second Mystery, then the
third. And all those Hail Marys. The
Hail Mary isn’t hard to remember; it
had the even rhythm of a heartbeat
so you can speed up and not get
jumbled. My fingers moved from one
bead to the next and the prayers
tumbled out: ten Hail Marys, a Glory
Be, an Our Father, ten more Hail
Marys — until I heard myself say,
Oh Jim. Startled, I stopped praying.
I held the beads still in my hand. I
said it again. Jim. And just like that
it was his name again.
I saw his face then, and it was
not the face of photographs. It was
the face of memory; of the buoyant
young man whose existence I had
begun to doubt. But he did exist. I
knew that now. He was driven and
restless, but he didn’t contain the
dark future. He was entirely himself;
he was having a wonderful time.
And I was lucky enough to be having
it with him.
And here’s the strange thing.
After I said Jim’s name, after I saw
his face, the sky changed. It became
a breathing thing, tipping from one
horizon to another. It was entirely
visible yet impossible to touch. It
was Jim. I watched the clouds move
as the air filled with his kind sturdiness. I wanted to stay with him all
day, to lie again on the dirt, this time
only so I could see the sky more
fully. I wanted to stay until the stars
emerged. But Jim was close enough
now that I could hear him laugh at
the idea. Close enough that I could
feel him sending me back down the
hill. But before I went I prayed the
last prayer of the Rosary, the Hail
Holy Queen. Or I should say I read it,
from a slip of paper that remains in
my coat pocket today.
I once wanted to be a Catholic
because it was the religion of everyday miracles. Catholicism was about
training your eye to see the hand of
God in the world. I once thought of
the Rosary as part of that magic, the
way it both cataloged and conjured
miracles. But the Rosary is just an
imposition of order. It is a discipline
and a ritual; a place for the frantic or
grieving mind to go so the heart can
fly around a bit — like those crickets
in the field — until it finds a new
sort of rest, a peace that, as the bible
verse goes, passes all understanding.
I believe in new things since I began
praying the Rosary again. I believe in
the return of old friends and in the
lasting freedom of death. I believe
that Jim came to me in the field, and
that he waits there for me still.
Erin White is a writer in Massachusetts.

GETTY IMAGES / PHOTOGRAPHER: JUAN MABROMATA

home from vacation I began staying up late, looking at pictures of
Jim on the Internet. Not the ones
taken in the last minutes of his
life — I still haven’t looked at those
— but pictures taken in Afghanistan
and Iraq, in Libya, and New York.
As I scrolled through, as I opened
window after window, I burned
with embarrassment. Who was I to
grieve James Foley? Who was I to
mourn the death of this handsome
war correspondent, this seriouslooking man in the helmet and flak
jacket, the one eulogized by worldfamous journalists, by the president
and the pope? With every picture,
Jim moved further from me, I knew
him less. Had theJim I knew — that
young man who knew nothing of
the horrors to come — ever existed?
Even his name began to cleave from
him. How strange, I thought when

A

L

U

Great To See You At
Reunion 2016!

Nearly 1,200 alumni joined us
back on The Bluff to reconnect with old friends and
classmates at Reunion 2016.
Highlights from the weekend
included the GOLD Backyard
Bash for young alumni on
Thursday night, the Tapas
Time social in the Pilot House
on Friday, and, of course, Saturday’s big Welcome Home
BBQ. Additionally, we celebrated the 50-year anniversary of
the Class of 1966 and the 65th
anniversary of spirit fraternity
Upsilon Omega Pi. Thank you
to all those who joined us!

This August, the University
began transitioning to a new
and improved website. Our
new alumni site includes more
detailed information about our
regional chapters and upcoming alumni events, plus it’s
now mobile-friendly, so whip
out your phone and check it
out at up.edu/alumni.

Life After UP is an educational
series that covers a range of
topics designed to help students and graduates thrive as
they navigate the world outside
The Bluff. Join us on Thursday,
September 15, as Amy Pearson
’04 leads a workshop focused
on interior design tricks and
tips. Find more information
at up.edu/alumni.

Alumni Family Day
Soccer, Oct. 2

GOLDs (Graduates of the Last
Decade) are invited to a guided
tasting of ciders at Bushwhacker Cider’s Woodlawn cider pub
on Thursday, October 20. RSVP
at up.edu/alumni.

Cheer on the UP women’s
soccer team as they take on
Loyola Marymount, and use
our special $20 Alumni Family

E

W

S

annual Brunch with Santa.
$15 for adults and $7 for kids
ages 2-12 years. Price includes brunch and a photo
with Father Christmas himself. RSVP at alumni@up.edu.

Upcoming Regional
Alumni Events

Head to up.edu/alumni to
view upcoming regional
events hosted by our chapters
in Seattle, the Bay Area, Los
Angeles, Hawaii, Denver,
Chicago, the Twin Cities, and
Washington D.C., and be sure
that we have your updated
address so we know which
chapter’s e-newsletter to send
to you. Go to up.edu/update
to update your address.

Theology On Tap,
Nov. 6

Join the Portland Alumni Chapter and special guest Fr. Ed
Obermiller, C.S.C., for a fun,
family-friendly evening at
Lucky Lab Brewery. More information to come at up.edu/
alumni.

Alumni Showcase
Brews At Homebrewers Fest

In July, 150 alumni and friends
joined the Office of Alumni
Relations at the Pilot House for
the first UP Brewers Fest. Nine
alumni homebrewers contributed beers to the event and the
“Best of Show” brew, which was

N

GOLD Tasting Series:
Bushwhacker Cider,
Oct. 20

Welcome, Twin Cities!

This summer, we officially
launched the ninth UP regional
chapter with a pizza pregame
and baseball game in St. Paul,
Minnesota. 30 alumni, parents,
donors, and incoming students
joined in on the fun. If you’d
like to get involved with our
Twin Cities Chapter or any
other UP regional chapter,
please contact Sara Grzelka
at grzelka@up.edu.

◆

Chef’s Table Dinner,
Nov. 12

After a year-long hiatus, Chef’s
Table is back! Get a sneak peek
into the inner workings of
the Bauccio Commons kitchen
as you dine on a multicourse
meal prepared by Bon Appétit’s
expert chefs. $85 per person.
Limited to 20 participants.
To reserve your seat, contact
the Office of Alumni Relations at alumni@up.edu or
503-943-7328.

Brunch With Santa,
Dec. 4

Alumni and their families are
invited to join us on Sunday,
December 4 for our second

Portland
36

Save The Date For
Reunion 2017,
June 22-25

Mark your calendars to return home to The Bluff next
summer from June 22-25,
2017. We’ll toast the 50-year
anniversaries of both the
Class of 1967 and Shipstad
Hall, and celebrate all classes
ending in 2 and 7. You can
look forward to an amazing
Welcome Home Barbecue,
class photos, University
museum displays, induction
of the newest members of
the 50 Year Club, tours of
local points of interest, and
lots of face time with classmates and family members
on the beautiful University
of Portland campus. If you
would like to serve as a
class representative for your
year, please contact Anna
Horlacher 12 at horlache@
up.edu or 503-943-8505.

A L U M N I

◆

N E W S

The University’s first telephone number, observes museum curator Carolyn Connolly, was not a number at all: In
our first year (1901-1902) callers were just connected with “Columbia University,” which boasted one phone, in Waldschmidt Hall. Christie Hall, the first dorm, eventually got a pay phone for students, “right next to the steam pipe... so
you sweated profusely while you made your calls,” as the annals record. Later general University numbers included
UNiversity 2626, UNiversity 1641, TWinoaks 8841, TWinoaks 5541, and BUtler 9-5541; today the general number
is 503-943-8000. The first private telephone in a dorm room was installed in 1957 in Christie by a sophomore student
named Don Gorger; today, of course, there are probably more private phones than there are students. Our thanks to
Carolyn and the University Archives for this entertaining photograph. Do we welcome gifts to help the museum
and the archives? Sure we do. Call Kara McManus at 503.943.7460.
Autumn 2016
37

C L A S S
Fifty Year Club

Mitchell W. Heinemann, Jr. ’41
passed away on July 4, 2016,
at the age of 98. Mitchell attended Oregon State University and the University of
Portland before transferring
to Reed College, from which
he graduated in June 1941. He
entered the University of Oregon Medical School (now Oregon Health Sciences University) in September 1941 and
graduated with a Doctor of
Medicine degree in September
1944. He served an internship
at the Multnomah County
Hospital and immediately
thereafter entered the U.S.
Armed Services. He received
his honorable discharge in
July 1947 with a grade of captain. He was associate pathologist at Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center, Portland and remained there,
eventually becoming director
of the laboratory. He retired
in 1969. Survivors include his
loving wife, Elaine; children,
Mitchell Heinemann III,
Shirley Heinemann, Ronald
Heinemann, Lamont Willson,
Brad Wallingford, Debbie Wiley,
Joe Heinemann and Julie
Strader; and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Our prayers and condolences
to the family.
David Maks ’42 died on June
6, 2016, in Eugene, Ore., from
heart failure, at the age of 92.
Dave was a child prodigy accordionist at 9 years of age. He
loved making music playing
the accordion and the piano.
He was attending Columbia
Preparatory School, now the
University of Portland, when
World War II began. He joined
the United States Navy and
served as a second class signalman in the Pacific Theater
aboard the U.S.S. Arneb. After
surviving TB and malaria, he
returned to Portland to attend
business school and entered
the Veterans Administration as
a stenographer; he would work
there for the next 43 years. He
took great pride in assisting
veterans and their families
from all walks of life. Dave was
preceded in death by his parents, brother Stephen, sister
Marlene, three wives (Carma,
Jacqueline, and Rebecca) and
his son, Joseph. He is survived
by children, Kathleen (Mike),
Stephen (Claudia), Suzanne,
David (Mercedes), Christin,
and Shannon (Honor). He is
also survived by 12 grandchildren, 11 great grandchildren
and 8 loving nieces and nephews. In lieu of flowers, donations to Catholic Charities
would be appreciated. Our
prayers and condolences to
the family.

◆

Walter Niebuhr ’50 passed
away on April 21 2016, at Samaritan Evergreen Hospice
House with his family by his
side. He attended all Catholic
schools in Portland, and went
into the Navy immediately
after graduating from Central
Catholic High School in 1945.
He served in World War II in
the Philippine islands as a brig
guard for the 3rd Fleet. He was

N O T E S
Mines as a research physicist
for 30 years, retiring in 1986.
Elaine preceded him in death
in 2000; survivors include his
daughter Judi and her husband
Ron. Our prayers and condolences to the family.
Benjamin Edward Tabler ’51
passed away on Saturday, June
19, 2016 in Clackamas, Ore. He
was born on July 17, 1929, in
Portland, Ore., to Stephen and

A follow up to our notice on the death of legendary
Portland drummer Chic Colburn ’66: “My aunt Roberta
said you were interested in a picture of my dad for your
alumni magazine,” writes Emily Baginski, Chic’s
daughter. “This is his high school graduation picture,
taken in 1962, the same year he attended UP. We really
appreciate your remembering Dad in your magazine.”
Thank you, Emily, for gracing our magazine with a
photo that captures a lot about your Pop. Our prayers
for your loss.
fond of saying that he did nine
months in the brig during the
war. When he returned from
the Navy, Walt enrolled at UP
under the G.I. Bill, and graduated with a degree in physics
and math. Shortly after graduating from college he met
Elaine Schnell, and they were
married in 1957. Daughter Judi
appeared in Albany in 1958.
Walt worked at the Bureau of

Catherine Tabler. Benjamin is
survived by his loving family.
Our prayers and condolences.
Mary Brady Sengstake ’52
died on November 22, 2015,
after a short battle with cancer.
Her long career was both remarkable and simple: she had
a true gift for nursing. Mary
offered skill, amazing medical
intuition, deep compassion,
empathy, and caring to pa-

Portland
38

tients, families, and colleagues
alike. She worked as a private
duty nurse and with St. Vincent Hospital before landing
at her career home with the
Veterans Administration Hospital of Portland. At the VA,
she cared for men and women
who served their country and
who now needed her most.
Single motherhood brought
struggles and challenges, but
Mary built a home of love and
strong family bonds which
continue today. Over her
eighty-five years, Mary lived a
life of service to her children,
to her patients and their families, to her friends, and to her
community. Survivors include
brother, Robert; children,
Seana Sengstake Stong (Jeff),
Pollie Sengstake, and Cord
Dana Sengstake (Katie); and
grandchildren, Julia, Joseph,
Quinn, Sophie, and Freddy.
In lieu of flowers, please send
donations to Portland Rescue
Mission (portlandrescuemission.org). Our prayers and condolences to the family.
We heard recently from
Frank Reichert ’52, who writes:
“Henry Pfenning, engineering
class of 1952, passed away on
May 16, 2016. After graduation
he worked for Lockheed for
over 30 years, mostly in what
is known as the Skunk Works,
where he participated in the
design of many top secret and
highly successful aircraft for
the U.S. military.” Thank you
for letting us know, Frank, and
our prayers and condolences
for the loss of your friend.
Henry Pfenning passed away
peacefully at home, surrounded and comforted by his family, on May 16, 2016. He lived
to the respectable age of 85.
He enjoyed golfing, traveling,
and being in the company of
his family and friends. He was
very involved in his children’s
and grandchildren’s lives, as
well as being very active in the
church. Survivors include his
loving wife of 62 years, Alice
Jean Pfenning (nee Reichert),
with whom he shared the
deepest of love. He was a caring father of seven children:
Henry, Mary, Ann, Karen,
Robert, James, and David;
he had18 grandchildren and
nine great-grandchildren. Our
prayers and condolences to
the family.
Wayne Olmscheid ’53 passed
away on June 4, 2016, in Astoria, Ore. Wayne served in
the United States Marine Corps
during the final years of World
War II, then worked for Fred
Myer for a number of years,
becoming a store manager.
In September of 1954, Wayne
commenced what became
a 33-year career in education.

C L A S S
He coached and taught in
Athena, Ore., for three years
before becoming principal
there. In 1965 Wayne became
principal at Captain Robert
Gray in Astoria. Three years
later he opened John Jacob
Astor when it became an elementary school. He continued
there until his retirement in
1987. Wayne married Ada
Elizabeth (Betty) Nicholson on
May 11, 1954, in Vancouver,
Wash. They were married for
nearly 57 years. Betty passed
away in April of 2011, Wayne
by her side, at their home
in Astoria. Survivors include
Becky and Danny Cotter,
Bonnie and Donnie Strowmatt, Ethan Cox, and numerous nieces and nephew and
their families. Our prayers and
condolences to the family.
Charles T. Allen ’56 passed
away on June 9, 2016, in Forest
Grove, Ore. He was known by
a number of monikers over
his long life: “Buddy,” “Chuck,”
“Chubby,” and his favorite
when introducing himself,
“Up-Chuck” Allen. Chuck
attended Portsmouth Grade
School until the 5th grade,
when, with the addition of
brother Gary, they moved
to a larger home on NE 31st
Ave. off of Fremont, where
he enrolled at Alameda Grade
School in 1940. He attended
Grant High School, and was
president of the student
council, sang in the choir, and
played left end and kicked
extra points on the Grant Generals football team. In 1946
he earned momentary fame
when his kick straight through
the goal posts won Grant the
state championship 7-6, against
Hood River. Because of the
accuracy of his field goal he
acquired the name “The Educated Toe.” A plumber by
trade, he was drafted into the
military in 1955 and discharged
in 1957. He married his wife,
Ginger, on September 8, 1950,
at First Presbyterian Church in
downtown Portland; children
Tom, Terri, and Tami soon
followed. Retirement provided
more time for travel, hobbies,
and beach trips to the family
cabin at Tierra Del Mar. Chuck
was by all accounts a devoted
family man, lover of all things
Oregon, and hard worker. Our
prayers and condolences to
the family.
Glenn Pelikan ’59 passed away
on June 13, 2016. He went to
work at Tektronix as an electrical engineer in the Patient
Monitoring Products Division,
where he was the research
and development manager for
medical products and negotiator for government contracts.
That division was spun-off in

1981, becoming Spacelabs Medical, Inc., where Glenn held the
position of executive vice president. Glenn was founder of
Promise to Oregon and worked
tirelessly for tort reform in the
state through Oregon Litigation
Fairness. His belief was that
good leaders should first be
good people. He was a life-long
member of St. Rose of Lima
Catholic Church, where he as-

◆

N O T E S
and served as a rheumatologist
at Alhambra Clinic in Los Angeles for 30 years, retiring in
2007. He served as a captain
in the U.S. Army from 1965 to
1968, in the medical division
in Dexheim, Germany. He
and his first wife, Constance,
moved to Pasadena in 1969,
where they raised their children, Michael, Francis, Ann,
and Laura. “He will be re-

ferent countries, and I also directed them twice at Carnegie
Hall in 2012 and 2015. I will be
directing a group at Carnegie as
a guest conductor this coming
May, in 2017. I still have relatives and friends in Vancouver,
Washington, so I visit there
quite often. I am coming up
this week so I hope to drop by
the Reunion on Thursday or
Friday. Please check my websites: Doreenirwin.com, where
you will see I still have a choir,
Doreen Irwin Singers, in post
retirement. I’m also involved
in art and ranching (horses
have always been a big hobby).
You can see more about that at
shandoniranch.com. My maiden name was Doreen Voeller,
and I married Ken Irwin, who
I met in the U of P choir. We
have three grown children who
are involved in music, horses,
and sales. My marriage did not
work out, but I have moved
on and all is well.” Thanks so
much for writing, Doreen, we’ll
be sure to take a look at your
post-retirement projects.
Glenn P. Dorn Sr. ’63 passed
away on April 27, 2016. Glenn
met his wife, Valerie Jean
Lamm, while attending Yakima
Valley Junior College, and they
married in 1954. He became a
teacher in Yakima and earned
his Ph.D. in 1974 at the University of Oregon. He was assistant superintendent of schools
in Klamath Falls, Ore., and
later superintendent of schools
for the Jefferson School DisWe recently got a bon voyage message from Mary
trict. After retiring he traveled
Malone ’76, who writes: “My classmates and I loved
extensively with Valerie, their
our 40th UP reunion in June. A group of 13 of us left children, and their grandchildren, visiting nearly every U.S.
that Sunday for a week in Alaska on Holland Amstate, Canada, Mexico, and
Germany. Survivors include his
erica. We are already planning our next adventure
brother Jack (Judy); his wife
together. I know UP has sponsored tours in the past. Valerie; four children: Marilyn,
Glenn, Jr., Annmarie (Robert),
Any future planned holidays?” Thanks Mary, we’ll
and Steve (Kim); nine grandhave to work on that.
children, three great-grandchildren; and sister-in-law Betty
sumed leadership on a variety membered for his dedication, Heilman. Our prayers and conof remodeling and installation laughter, and generosity,” ac- dolences to the family.
projects for both the church
cording to Mary. Our prayers Donald Hing Ning Yee ’64
and the school. Glenn was
and condolences to the family. passed away on January 26,
active in the community in a
We heard recently from
2016, in Honolulu. He was a
variety of capacities for such
Doreen Voeller Irwin ’61, who
retired counselor for King Inorganizations as Northwest
writes: “I saw that you are
termediate School and McKinFamily Services, Loaves and
looking for updates on past
ley High School, and an Army
Fishes, Cascade Pacific Council students. I’ve written in before, veteran. He is survived by his
of the Boy Scouts of America, but somehow have not noticed wife, Violet; sons, Jeffrey and
the Portland Marathon, SERRA any news from me. I am from
Darren; daughter, Donnalyn
Club, Central Catholic High
way in the past but still doing Yamamoto; brother, Gareth;
School, University of Portland, well. I graduated in 1961 from
sisters, Lily Wong and Margaret
and the Archdiocese of Port- the University of Portland and Chin; and six grandchildren.
land. Glenn Pelikan epitomized got a master’s in music educa- Our prayers and condolences
the triumph of the human spirit tion in 1962. Long story short, to the family.
over adversity. Our prayers and I’ve had a great career as a
The Oregon Zoo Foundation
condolences to Glenn’s extend- music teacher, and just retired has elected Bob Maloney ’64
ed “family” at St. Rose Parish. from Sacramento City College as chairman of its Advocacy
Richard M. Hollcraft ’60 pas- in Sacramento, California in
Committee and to serve on
sed away on July 9, 2016, in
2013. I taught in high schools the Executive Committee of its
Gilbert, Ariz., according to his and junior high and the com- Board of Directors. The Founsister, Mary Hollcraft Milden- munity college for a total of 50 dation’s mission is to foster
berger ’64. Richard was a doctor years. My choirs toured 17 dif- community pride and involve
Autumn 2016
39

C L A S S
ment in the Oregon Zoo, and to
secure financial support for
the zoo’s conservation, education, and animal welfare programs.
Susan Marjorie Gratton Nichols
’64, of Auburn, Calif., passed
away peacefully at her home
on June 7, 2016, at the age of
73. She obtained a scholarship
to study at the University of
Portland, where she graduated
with honors and was inducted
into the national scholastic honor society Delta Epsilon Sigma,
as well as the national dramatic
fraternity Alpha Psi Omega,
and the national professional
speech arts fraternity Zeta Phi
Eta. She later pursued graduate
studies in theater history at the
State University of Iowa and
psychology at the University of
Nevada Reno. During her sophomore year in Portland, she
declared a major in speech and
drama and began a work-study
job in the drama department,
sparking a deep passion for theater which continued throughout Susan’s life. Susan became
an expert in all forms of stage craft, and went on to perform
in, produce, and author a number of works in the many communities she called home.
Among her favorite roles were
Eleanor of Aquitaine in The
Lion in Winter for Reno Little
Theater, Madame Rosepettle
in Oh Dad, Poor Dad for Sparks
Civic Theater, Fraulein Schneider in Cabaret for the Nevada
Repertory Theater, and Golde
in Fiddler on the Roof for Hadassah at John Ascuaga’s Nugget.
Perhaps her fondest theater
memory was directing her dear
friend Juila Lemaire in the
one-woman show The Belle of
Amherst for Sparks Civic Theater, which the two ultimately
took on tour. She also authored,
directed, and produced several
plays in American Sign Language and received numerous
awards. In the late 1960s, Susan
was an integral member of a
ground-breaking research team
which successfully taught American Sign Language to chimpanzees at the University of
Nevada Reno. Survivors include
her siblings, James Gratton,
Judith Wintermute, Jeanette
Chardon, Colette Hawkins,
Tracy Mitchell, and John Gratton; daughter, Marta Nichols
Hubly; and grandchildren, Mira
Hubly and Grant Hubly. In lieu
of flowers, the family suggests
friends attend theater performances to honor her memory
or consider donations to Placer
Community Theater in Auburn,
Palm Springs Art Museum in
Palm Springs, or Bay Area
Cancer Connections in Palo
Alto. Our prayers and condolences to the family.

◆

Mike Merzenich ’64 has been
awarded the 2016 Kavli Prize
in Neuroscience by the Norwegian Academy of Science
for his work in documenting
the fundamental plasticity of
the human brain. Merzenich
shares the prize with fellow
neuroscientists Eve Marder of
Brandeis University and Carla

N O T E S
Sciences in 1999 and the Institute of Medicine in 2008. Merzenich was on the team that
invented the cochlear implant,
which gained FDA approval in
1984 and is now used by over
200,000 people worldwide to
restore their sense of hearing.
He is also the founding CEO
of Scientific Learning Corpor-

lives of our alumni. This year’s
50 Year Club induction at
Reunion was a great event,
but we couldn’t help but wish
even more 50 year (and
more!) alumni could have
been there to share their
stories. Please take a few
minutes to let your classmates know what’s going on
in your life by sharing in
“Class Notes.” It’s as easy as
emailing mcovert@up.edu.
Now that the dust has
cleared from our 2016 Reunion, it’s time to start planning for 2017. While we welcome alumni from any and
all years to come back to The
Bluff, we also like to honor
those whose class years celebrate five, ten, fifteen, twenty
(and so on) year anniversaries.
We will honor classes ending
in 2 and 7 in 2017, so please
start planning now, Classes of
’42, ’47, ’52, ’57, ’62, and ’67!

’71 Prayers, Please

Reunion 2016 was a resounding success, with alumni
from across the decades coming home to The Bluff in
droves. We welcomed the newest members of our 50
Year Club, the Class of 1966, and caught up with plenty
of our regular attendees, like Dave ’73 and Jean (Ducyk) Lux ’82, doing their best version of American
Gothic, above, and Constance Courtney ’76 (left). See
more Reunion photos at http://www.up.edu/alumni.
Schatz of Stanford University.
Mike attended the University
on a merit scholarship and was
inspired to pursue neuroscience by biology professor
Blondel Carleton. After finishing as his class’s valedictorian
at UP, Merzenich attended
Johns Hopkins University,
earned his Ph.D. in neurophysiology in 1968, and completed a fellowship in sensory
physiology from the University of Wisconsin in 1971. He
joined the faculty of at the University of California San Francisco in 1971 and retired in
2007 as Francis A. Sooy Professor and co-director of the
Keck Center for Integrative
Neuroscience. Among many
academic honors and appointments, Merzenich was elected
to the National Academy of

ation, which markets and distributes software that applies
principles of brain plasticity to
assist children with language
learning and reading problems.
He was awarded the 2015 Fritz
J. and Dolores H. Russ Prize,
the bioengineering profession’s
highest honor, thanks to his
work with cochlear implants.
The Kavli Prizes are presented
every two years in the fields
of neuroscience, astrophysics,
and nanoscience, and recognize scientists for pioneering
advances in the understanding
of existence at its biggest,
smallest, and most complex
scales. Congratulations, Mike,
Dr. Carleton would have been
very proud!
Speaking of proud, the University is always proud to hear
about what’s going on in the

Portland
40

Anthony Burke Gerharz passed
away on Saturday, February 21, 2015, at his home in
Creston, Iowa. After his graduation from UP he went on
to work as an accountant for
the National Park Service at
Yellowstone National Park. He
married Ellen Rummel in
Rawlins, Wy., and they lived
and worked throughout southern California and Montana.
They moved to Los Angeles
for Anthony’s job as CFO for
Thomas Nix, then returned to
Montana. In 1999, they moved
to Creston, where Burke did
accounting for Papetti’s and
for Southern Iowa Resources
for Families. Survivors include his wife, Ellen Gerharz;
daughters, Jennifer Gerharz
and Jessica (Isaiah) Scales; son,
Anthony Gerharz, Jr.; his fourlegged son, Baron and granddog, Gus; sisters, Christie
(Thomas) Gorman and Julie
(Ben) Webinger; and brother,
John (Diane) Gerharz. In lieu
of flowers, memorials are to
the Creston Endowment Fund
held at South Central Iowa
Community Foundation. Online condolences can be given
at www.powersfh.com. Our
prayers and condolences to
the family.
Richard C. Johnson ’71 passed
away on June 20, 2012, in
Gladstone, Ore. He was born
in Oregon City and served in
the U.S. Air Force from 1950
to 1954. On February 20, 1959,
he married Alverna Lindau.
Survivors include Alverna;
daughter, Rhonda Cullens;
son-in-law Chane Cullens;
grandsons Cody and Chad
Cullens; and sister, Shirley
Updenkelder. Our prayers
and condolences.

C L A S S
’72 An Honored Year

Now that the dust has cleared
from our 2016 Reunion, it’s
time to start planning for 2017.
While we welcome alumni
from any and all years to come
back to The Bluff, we also like
to honor those whose class
years celebrate five, ten, fifteen,
twenty (and so on) year anniversaries. We will honor classes
ending in 2 and 7 in 2017, so
please start planning now,
Class of ’72!

from UCLA, he took a memorable postdoctoral fellowship
in Sweden. Before returning
to the U.S., he and his wife
traveled and camped for seven
months in Europe. He later
earned an M.B.A. from the
University of Portland. Jerry
had a long career in the hightech industry at DuPont, Tek-

◆

N O T E S
’81 Congrats, Doug!

Douglas A. Hensler, former provost of the Naval Postgraduate
School in Monterey, Calif., has
been named dean of the University of Wisconsin-Green
Bay’s Austin E. Cofrin School
of Business. Hensler will also
serve as special assistant to the
Chancellor for Business Part-

’76 Mari’s Update

G.Mari Erlandson and her husband, Bruce Morse, live in Sacramento, Calif., and have a
small family business involving
affordable rentals. In May 2016,
Mari received a master’s degree
in social work from California
State University Sacramento.
She intends to continue to pursue cooperative housing development and shared economies
for a more sustainable future.
“I am inspired by the millennials,” she adds, “and they give
me hope for the future. If anyone is interested in dropping
by and visiting our area, they
may e-mail me at sardinesandonions@gmail.com.”

’77 An Honored Year

Now that the dust has cleared
from our 2016 Reunion, it’s
time to start planning for 2017.
While we welcome alumni
from any and all years to come
back to The Bluff, we also like
to honor those whose class
years celebrate five, ten, fifteen,
twenty (and so on) year anniversaries. We will honor classes
ending in 2 and 7 in 2017, so
please start planning now,
Class of ’77!

’79 A Longtime Leader

Jean (Newton) Berg was featured
in a story titled “After 37 years,
the songs end for a Portland
middle school music teacher”
in the June 17, 2016 edition of
the Oregonian. For the past 37
years, Jean has taught music
at Robert Gray Middle School
in Southwest Portland, and her
retirement has been hard for
both Jean and her students,
not to mention colleagues, administrators, and thousands of
former students. Her retirement announcement at the
school’s annual December concert drew gasps of disbelief
from the assembled throng—
probably a good sign that Jean’s
retirement comes on a high
note. See the story at http://
tinyurl.com/zpoxpqt.
Gerald E. Heppell passed away
in his sleep on June 5, 2016,
in Tigard, Ore., at the age of
79. After graduating in chemistry from the University of
Washington and with a Ph.D.

the W. Frank Barton School of
Business. Hensler also served
on the faculty of the Pamplin
School of Business, here on
The Bluff.

’82 Keeping His Foot(s) In

We didn’t seem to fool many
readers with our summer 2016
mystery faculty photo, least
of all Mike McKeirnan, who
writes: “Dr. Jim Seal... my main
man!” Mike, known to his colleauges as “Crusher,” spends
his professional time at Stone
Creek Winery in Walla Walla,
Wash., “Home of foot stomped
hand crafted Vino.”
Now that the dust has cleared
from Reunion 2016, it’s time to
start planning for 2017. While
we welcome alumni from any
and all years to come back to
The Bluff, we also like to honor those whose class years celebrate five, ten, fifteen, twenty
(and so on) year anniversaries.
We will honor classes ending in
2 and 7 in 2017, so please start
planning now, Class of ’82!

’84 A Teacher’s Teacher

We have an update from Karen Jacobson-Falato, who writes:
“It has been quite a few years
since I have given an update.
I am still in the education
field. In fact, I went back to
graduate school and received
a second master’s degree, in
educational leadership. This
summer my district closed
all nine elementary buildings
to join them into three megaschools, which will be stateof-the-art and air conditioned.
You can check out my class
projects at www.donorschoose.org/kfalato.Personally, it has been an up and
down year. My 25-year-old
son, Garrett, passed away
Margaret “Maggie” Baudendistel ’69 was featured
suddenly in Portland, but
in an article titled “Nurse: The patients make me feel the up side was my youngalive” in the July 13, 2016 edition of the Catholic Sentinel, est, Quinn, graduating from
Pacific Lutheran University
and with good reason — Providence Health and Services with her bachelor of science
in biology. My middle child,
recently gave her a Lifetime Achievement Award for
is working at Intel.
“decades of intravenous injections, health assessments, Brittany,
I am fortunate to have been
surgery aid, and human kindness.” Her colleagues and blessed with a grandson by
my late son. Rhett is a very
patients have raved about Maggie’s awesomeness
active 4 years old. Just like
throughout her 48 years in the profession, which inhis dad! Thank you for allowing me time to update.” Our
cluded caring for U.S. servicemen wounded in the
pleasure, Karen, and our
Vietnam War. Hats off and prayers of thanks to a most prayers and condolences on
the loss of your son.
gifted and generous woman.
tronix, and Hewlett Packard.
He enjoyed fishing (especially
with his sons), camping, and
extensive travel with family
and friends. Jerry is survived
by his wife of 58 years, Donna;
brother, James; sons, Kevin and
Scott; and grandson, Dylan.
Our prayers and condolences
to the family.

nerships, where he will organize university efforts to develop and grow collaborations to
support student learning and
faculty research. Hensler
served as provost of the Naval
Postgraduate School from June
2013 to October 2015. Prior
to that, he served at Wichita
State University as dean of

Autumn 2016
41

’86 Time For Traveling

Jennifer Haralson writes: “Hi.
I enjoy reading Portland magazine and thought I’d check
in. After retiring from the Air
Force in Ohio, I’ve enjoyed the
extra time by traveling, volunteering with St. Vincent de Paul
Society, and more traveling.
Both my son and daughter are
doing well in college — my son

C L A S S
at Wright State and my daughter
at Miami University.” Thanks
for writing, Jennifer, and for
your service to us all.

’87 An Honored Year

Now that the dust has cleared
from Reunion 2016, it’s time to
start planning for 2017. While
we welcome alumni from any
and all years to come back to
The Bluff, we also like to honor
those whose class years celebrate five, ten, fifteen, twenty
(and so on) year anniversaries.
We will honor classes ending
in 2 and 7, so please start planning now, Class of ’87!

◆

Villa Maria dorm padre, announced that ROTC cadets
were being called up and
asked to report in uniform to
the auditorium. Apparently,
the Department of Defense had
awarded too many engineering scholarships. I had seven
days to choose another major
and two alternatives or leave
my dream behind. My parents
had always shared with me
that this life is not a given
entity, and it’s the fighters of
this world that have stood up

N O T E S
’96 A Smart Choice

Ken Richardson has been named
as superintendent of Oregon’s
David Douglas School District,
and he was featured in an
article titled “David Douglas
school district names new superintendent” in the July 15,
2016 edition of The Oregonian.
Ken has been an administrator
at David Douglas since 2009,
and most recently served as
deputy superintendent. With
nearly 11,000 students, David
Douglas is the 13th largest

’90 Remembering Roman

Roman Mark Rillera passed
away on May 19, 2012. Roman
had a big personality — he
greeted everyone with an outgoing smile and mischievous
twinkle in his eye; he loved to
play practical jokes, gave everyone he met a nickname,
cherished his friends, and
deeply loved his dogs. He is
survived by his partner of 19
years, Robert Randel; his large
extended family; and many beloved friends. Our prayers and
condolences to the family.
We got a heartfelt message
from Pam Mattecheck Knell, who
writes: “On behalf of my mom,
Marianna Mattecheck, and all
my siblings, we want to thank
you for taking the time to honor my dad in Portland Magazine!
We were so touched by your
thoughtfulness and kind words.
We also want to thank whoever
was responsible for sending
the beautiful purple and white
flowers to the funeral, and to
Fr. Ed Obermiller, C.S.C., who
concelebrated with Fr. John
Kerns and Msgr. Tim Murphy
at dad’s funeral. It was such a
nice surprise and blessing to
have all of them there.” Thank
you Pam, and our continued
prayers for you and your family
on your loss.

’91 Many Blessings

Chad Nelson writes: “Just a
quick note and invite to UP.
We are stationed here in San
Diego, Calif., at what is likely
to be our final duty station.
These 26 years of active duty
in the United States Air Force
have blessed my wife, my family, my two children, and
myself more than words might
convey. The experiences are
so many, with overseas residences on both sides of the
world spanning fourteen years
or so. I look back at my time
on campus in 1987, when at 18
years of age, I actually walked
on to the University basketball
squad and made the team! It
wasn’t more than one week
later that Father Joe Corpora,

cook. She taught kindergarten
at St. Rose School for three
years before teaching at Head
Start for several years. “MiMi,”
as she was affectionately
known, had a special way with
children and she was loved
by all of her students. Maria
is survived by her son, Corey
Johnson; her parents, Larry
and Betty Johnson: sisters,
Heidi Anderson and Patricia
(Blake) Peacock; brother, Jeremy Johnson; nieces, Lindsay
Anderson, Tabitha Anderson,
and Grace Peacock; nephews,
Bryson Peacock and Dallas
Peacock; great-nephew, Max
Richardson; aunts and uncles, and many friends. Our
prayers and condolences to
the family.
Now that the dust has
cleared from Reunion 2016,
it’s time to start planning
for 2017. While we welcome
alumni from any and all years
to come back to The Bluff,
we also like to honor those
whose class years celebrate
five, ten, fifteen, twenty (and
so on) year anniversaries. We
will honor classes ending in
2 and 7 in 2017, so please start
planning now, Class of ’97!

’99 Forty Under Forty
For Sure!

Jim Knackstedt ’00 “came down with a little case of
cancer,” he says, and in classic U of P style he was
treated by not one but two Universityish nurses at the
hospital: Lori Gay, whose daughter Alison will graduate in May, and Stephanie Pearsall ’08. Jim is a prosthetist and orthotist at Shriners Hospital for Children
in Salt Lake City, where he’s been making prosthetic
arms, legs, and braces for children for eight years. He
and his wife have this burbling new daughter in their
lives now. Our prayers for health and laughter, James.
to survive. Four years later,
I graduated with magna cum
laude honors and was commissioned as a newly minted
Air Force officer. What a journey to look back on. Thank
you U of P! Let our fellow
alumni know to contact us via
email/phone when a visit to
San Diego or Disneyland is on
the horizon. Lodging in this
area is, well, a little costly,
and my family and I would be
happy to share our home with
our UP family.”

school district in Oregon. He
is only the seventh superintendent in the history of the
56-year-old district. Congratulations, Ken, we know David
Douglas is in good hands.

’97 Prayers, Please

Maria G. Johnson passed away
on October 26, 2014. Maria
was an outstanding athlete in
her youth, excelling in track,
swimming, softball, and soccer.
She was an honor student,
a gifted artist, and a fantastic

Portland
42

Thomas Phuong was named
in the 2016 Consulting-Specifying Engineer magazine’s
40 Under 40 listings in May.
He serves as associate principal, senior electrical engineer at Interface Engineering in Portland, Ore. According to the story, “As a senior
electrical engineer and
associate principal at the
company, he is a well-established and respected team
leader and co-leads a team
of 17 engineers, designers,
modelers/drafters, and
administrative personnel
in a wide array of challenging MEP projects. He
is deeply involved in mentoring junior staff and is
a member of Interface Engineering’s Standards Committee. He also is on the
board of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance
Portland Lodge. In the past,
Phuong has volunteered in
the CANstruction event to
donate food for the Oregon Food Bank. He will be
participating in the Habitat
for Humanity (building a
home in the Portland metro
area) as well as the SOLV
Oregon beach cleanup.” He
has a passion for basketball,
and helps youth become
better basketball players
and use basketball as a way
to understand what it takes
to succeed in life.

C L A S S
’01 Notes From The
Nolan-Partnows

Maia Nolan-Partnow’s husband
Seth Partnow of Nylon Calculus has been hired by the Milwaukee Bucks as a consultant.
Seth has emerged as one of the
most well-respected voices in
the NBA media on advanced
analytics. He will contribute
proprietary data to the Bucks.
“I’d say this was a dream job,
but that would imply that I
had considered such a thing
possible when I started doing
this as a hobby a few years
back,” wrote Seth. “I have to
give a hearty thanks to the
Bucks organization and specifically to Mike Clutterbuck, the
team’s director of analytics,
for this opportunity.”
And wait — this just in!
Maia and Seth have even more
exciting news to share: “Seth,
Reilly, and I are happy to
announce the arrival of Bruce
Reuben Partnow, born at
5:21 a.m. on Monday, June 20,
after a precipitous labor, weighing in at 8 pounds 6 ounces
and 21 inches long,” writes
Mom/Maia. “Bruce is named
in honor of Seth’s beloved
uncle Bruce Boynick, who left
us nearly four years ago and
is dearly missed. His middle
name, Reuben, comes from
the Hebrew meaning “Behold,
a son!” — since, as some of you
know, we were told at our
anatomy scan that we should
expect a second daughter and
were surprised when a followup ultrasound eight weeks ago
revealed that, among other
things, this was no little girl!”
Congratulations on your growing family, Maia and Seth, and
God bless.
Sharon Rissmiller was appointed as interim assistant
coach for the Oregon State
Beavers women’s basketball
team by head coach Scott
Rueck on July 22. In her first
season with the Beavers, in
2015-2016, she served as director of operations. Rissmiller
was head coach at Pacific University for seven years, leading
the team to back-to-back winning seasons in 2012-13 and
2013-14. She has also coached
at Tacoma Community College,
Clark Community College, and
Sunset High School. A star player in her days on The Bluff,
Sharon earned West Coast Conference First Team accolades
as a senior. Congratulations,
Sharon, we know you’ll do a
fine job.

’02 An Honored Year

Now that the dust has cleared
from our 2016 Reunion, it’s
time to start planning for 2017.
While we welcome alumni
from any and all years to come

back to The Bluff, we also like
to honor those whose class
years celebrate five, ten, fifteen, twenty (and so on) year
anniversaries. We will honor
classes ending in 2 and 7 in
2017, so please start planning
your return to The Bluff now,
Class of ’02!

’03 Daniel’s Update

We heard recently from Daniel
Oberreuter, who writes: “Hey,
this is Daniel Oberreuter, UP
alumnus and the lead singer

◆

N O T E S
’05 Class

of

2038

Great news to share: “I wanted
to let everyone know that Amy
Uberuaga and I (Gavin Clark,
’04) are proud to announce
that on June 10th, Amy gave
birth to a healthy and strong
baby boy named Rowan Michael Clark. Callum is overjoyed to be a big brother, and
Rowan has already told us that
he is excited to meet his UP
classmates of 2038. Such a
little man already! Our growing family lives in Livingston,

so long. Her story of reaching
such a difficult decision was
featured in an article by Caitlin Murray in the May 19, 2016
edition of the Portland Tribune.
See the article at http://tinyurl.com/z63a96v.

’12 An Honored Year

Now that the dust has cleared
from our 2016 Reunion, it’s
time to start planning for 2017.
While we welcome alumni
from any and all years to come
back to The Bluff, we also like
to honor those whose class
years celebrate five, ten, fifteen, twenty (and so on) year
anniversaries. We will honor
classes ending in 2 and 7 in
2017, so please start planning
now, Class of ’12!

’13 A Fallen Hero

Behold, a son! Maia Nolan-Partnow ’01 getting acquainted with her new baby boy, Bruce. See the whole
story under Class of 2001.
of Catholic rock band The
Thirsting from Vancouver,
Wash. We have been invited
to play in Krakow, Poland for
World Youth Day 2016. Two
and a half million Catholics
from across the world are
expected to attend the event
along with the Pope. We have
been invited as a band to play
on the main stage on the
evening of July 26th. For more
information on the band visit
our website at www.thethirstingcatholic.com.”
Eduardo Vergara Bolbarán
writes: “How is the summer?
Its cold down here in Chile;
however, soccer victories tend
to make things warmer. I saw
on a Facebook page that I was
in the magazine! Great, thanks
for the talk and the space. Life
is great, lots of work, I just got
elected national vice president of the Partido por la
Democracya (PPD)/Party for
Democracy, one of the main
and biggest parties from the
coalition currently governing
Chile. So let’s see where that
takes me.” Thanks Eduardo,
we expect big things from you.

Montana. I look forward to receiving the Portland Magazine
at our new address and enjoy
supporting the Salzburg 200102 Travel Scholarship.”

’07 An Honored Year

Now that the dust has cleared
from our 2016 Reunion, it’s
time to start planning for 2017.
While we welcome alumni
from any and all years to come
back to The Bluff, we also like
to honor those whose class
years celebrate five, ten, fifteen, twenty (and so on) year
anniversaries. We will honor
classes ending in 2 and 7 in
2017, so please start planning
your triumphant return now,
Class of ’07!

’11 A Difficult Decision

Danielle Foxhoven surprised
a lot of people when she announced her retirement from
professional soccer in May
2016. A former star for the
Pilots, she played for both the
Portland Thorns and the Seattle
Reign before deciding to step
away from the sport she had
made the center of her life for

Autumn 2016
43

David A. Bauders died on Friday, May 6, at Al Asad Air Base
in Iraq in a noncombat related
incident. He was a state trooper
in civilian life, and was assigned to the Washington State
National Guard 176th Engineer
Company of Snohomish, Wash.
David earned a bachelor’s degree with a major in sociology
and a minor in psychology
from the University. Bauders
was sworn in as a state trooper
in March 2014 and patrolled
North Seattle and King County.
He joined the state patrol soon
after his graduation in 2013, as
a trooper cadet assigned to the
property management division,
and entered the academy in
2014, according to Chief John
Batiste. David is survived by his
mother, father, and two sisters.
David’s family is requesting
donations in his honor to the
Law Enforcement Officer’s
Memorial Fund (LEOMF). Our
prayers and condolences to
the family.

’14 Wedding Bells

Keaton Beyer married Ashley
Wilson ’13 on June 18, 2016, at
the Chapel of Christ the Teacher. Ashley writes: “We had our
reception at the Benson Hotel
in downtown Portland. We met
on the Bluff in 2012 through
mutual friends. We both stayed
in Portland after graduation.
I am an ER nurse and Keaton
is a project manager for an IT
consulting company. We had
21 alumni at our wedding! I attached a photo of all of the UP
alumni and a photo of us on
our honeymoon in Tahiti with
our UP alumni shirts on!”

’15 Believe It, Jasmine!

There are some pretty cool
jobs here at UP, and one of
the coolest has be to that held
by Dan McGinty ’97, who for
years shepherded UP studentathletes through their college

C L A S S
careers. “I have a very cool
UP alumna story for you,” he
shared recently. “Former UP
women’s basketball point guard
and 2015 graduate Jasmine
Wooton contacted me about
what she’s doing lately. I’ll let
her message speak for itself!”
Thanks Dan, and here’s what
Jasmine has to say: “Hi Dan!
Soooo much has happened
since our last lunch! One, I quit
my job! While I was at Kroger
I started doing a lot of volunteering and realized that my
passions were leading in a direction Kroger couldn’t take me.
Two, I moved to Los Angeles,
and had no idea how much I
missed the sun and my friends.
Three, I had my first National
Association of Collegiate Women Athletics event in May in
Kansas City, Mo. I never have
seen so many passionate, hardworking, and talented women
in one room. Four, I’m a coach!
I’m coaching a travel team with
my high school coach. I love it!
I had no idea coaching was so
fun and rewarding. This weekend I coached alone for the
first time and I got my first
win! (I’m surprised at how
hard it is for me NOT to say
‘Pilots on 3!’). I also coach a
basketball camp during the
week at a private school in
my area. I mainly work with
the 5 and 6 year olds. They
are absolutely hilarious and
extraordinarily grateful when
I teach them seemingly small
things like the correct footwork
for layups. We idolize one another and it keeps my heart
very full. And five, I’m moving
to Ireland in August! Coach
Cheryl told me about a Victory
Scholars program the day before I left Portland and I applied.
I will be attending Dublin City
University c/o 2017. I’ll also
be playing for the college and
working with Sport Changes
Life — a mentorship program
that sets this whole thing
up. I literally cannot believe
my life. I can’t believe I was
brave enough to apply and
then brave enough to say yes.
I’m still waiting for the shock
to wear off, and it’s been
about a month.” Thanks for
sharing, Jasmine, keep us in
the loop with your upcoming
adventures.

’16 Here’s One To Follow

We haven’t heard the last of
Brian Carter and his startup
earbud company, Audibility.
Brian was featured in an article by Andrew Theen in the
May 17, 2016 edition of the Oregonian, titled “Custom earbud
company founded by Portland
grads seeks $10,000 Kickstarter.” Carter turned his bad experiences with over-the-counter

◆

headphones into a passion for
providing quality, custom-fitted earbuds to all at an affordable price. The molded-to-fit
hearing aids he has worn since
he was four years old provided
the inspiration for Audibility’s
innovative line of products.
He’s hoping to use his recently
earned UP master’s degree in
biomedical engineering to
change the way earbuds are

N O T E S
in learning and leading with a
neuroeducation focus from the
University of Portland in May
2016. She also received her
bachelors and masters degrees,
both in education, from UP.
She is described in the article
as “a wife, mother, and second
grade teacher, as well as a soldier and worship team leader
at the Portland Tabernacle
Corps.” Bonnie is a recipient of

Here’s a story: Jean Francois Seide ’16 from Haiti is
headed to Oxford University this fall. Jean Francois was
the first Molly Hightower Scholarship recipient, named
for the cheerful 2009 UP alumna who died in the 2010
Haiti earthquake while working at an orphanage; her
friends and family (including Rachel Prusynski ’09)
set up the scholarship in Molly’s memory to bring
students from Haiti to The Bluff. Love is a roaring force,
yes it is.
developed and marketed; he
partnered with fellow UP graduate Gilbert Resendez, to
create a new company focused
on affordable and customizable
earbuds in 2014. Read more at
http://tinyurl.com/hyo46uh.
Bonnie Robb was featured in
an article titled “Portland Salvationist earns doctoral degree”
in the June 2, 2016 edition of
New Frontier Chronicle. Bonnie
earned her doctor of education

the national Milken Educators
Award and was recognized by
Kappa Delta Pi as a Teacher
of Honor. See the article at
http://tinyurl.com/hbeqy77.
Ed Langlois, who for 23 years
has served as a reporter for
Portland’s Catholic Sentinel
newspaper, has been named
as the paper’s new editor, as
well as its Spanish sister publication, El Centinela. Langlois
has earned more than 70

Portland
44

awards from the Catholic
Press Association and more
than 20 from the Society of
Professional Journalists.
Langlois plans to maintain
the journalism standards
set by his predecessors and
shepherd the Sentinel into the
digital age, with more videos
to accompany stories.
Malika Andrews is one of
nine college students from
around the country who were
rewarded for their devotion
to covering the news and improving their communities
through the 2016 Sinclair
Broadcast Group Diversity
Scholarship Fund. The fund
awarded $43,000 in endowments to the group composed
of first generation college students, exceptional volunteers,
and driven future journalists.
The fund was established in
2015 for aspiring young journalists who share the desire
to make a positive difference
in their communities. Malika
graduated in May 2016 after
serving as editor of The Beacon
and is now interning at the
Denver Post as part of the elite
Sports Journalism Institute.
Riley Clark won a Northwest
Emmy Award for his video,
“University of Portland Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Raises Money for St.
Baldrick’s Foundation,” on Saturday, June 4, as announced
by the Northwest Chapter of
the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. His
video, produced through Portland Sports Network (PSN),
won in the category of “ News:
General Assignment-Serious”
in the College Student Awards
for Excellence division. PSN
is the University’s in-house
athletics video team, made up
of two full-time creative video
professionals: James Vega,
director of video services, and
Jose Nevarez, director of live
video production. Student
interns from various undergraduate academic programs
help in both the creative and
live video productions. The
St. Baldrick’s video shows
how the University’s men’s
soccer team, faculty, staff, and
students raised money for
childhood cancer research by
shaving their heads to spark
fundraising efforts for the
cause. Watch the full feature
at http://tinyurl.com/zhxh39j.
The Northwest Chapter of The
National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences serves
television and media professionals in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Montana and Washington.
The NATAS Northwest Regional Emmy Awards recognize
outstanding achievements in
television and allied media by

C L A S S
conferring annual awards of
merit in the chapter’s designated award region.
Jennifer Snow Mayo, a recent
doctoral graduate of the University’s School of Education, has
been selected to serve a fullyear internship with NASA as
a 2016-2017 Albert Einstein
Distinguished Educator Fellow.
She joins twelve other outstanding science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics
(STEM) educators selected to
serve their fellowships in Washington, D.C., within the offices
of three sponsoring agencies
and four congressional offices.
The 2016-17 Einstein Fellows
were selected from a nationwide pool of applicants through
a rigorous application and interview process, and will begin
their appointments on September 1, 2016.

while raising close to $6,000
to add to the Upsilon Omega
Pi Endowed E-Scholars Fund,
according to Matt Waite ’84.

◆

N O T E S
University, and received a
Presidential Medal from the
University of Oregon, an
Honorary Doctor of Humane
Letters from Menlo College,
and was a recipient of the
Aubrey R. Watzek Award from
Lewis & Clark College. He
was a senator of the board at
Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich, Germany and
was awarded the Silver Cross

Culligan Award wear the medal with their academic regalia,
as a sign of the University’s
highest faculty honor.
The Deans’ Award for FacFaculty, Staff, Friends
ulty Leadership, presented
Portland businessman and
annually to a tenured faculty
philanthropist Earle M. Chiles
member who exemplifies, in an
passed away on Thursday,
extraordinary way, the qualities
June 23, after a long illness.
of teaching and scholarship
Chiles was a longtime supdescribed in the University’s
porter of the University of PortArticles of Administration for
appointment, advancement in
rank, and tenure, was presented to Laurie McLary, international languages and cultures.
The Outstanding Teaching
Award, presented annually by
the University’s Committee
on Teaching and Scholarship
to a faculty member who is
a particular exemplar of the
University’s commitment to
superb teaching, was presented
to Hannah Callender, mathematics.
Reunion 2016: Recap,
The Outstanding Scholarship
Photos, And More
Award, presented annually by
Reunion 2016 was one of the
the University’s Committee on
biggest in recent history, with
Teaching and Scholarship to a
a total of 1,178 individual
faculty member who presents
guests returning to The Bluff.
unusually significant and merHighlights from the weekend
itorious achievement in profesincluded the GOLD Backyard
sional scholarship during the
Bash on Thursday night, atpast two academic years, and
tended by 173 young alumni,
whose work substantively enand a Tapas Time social in the
hances the effectiveness of his
Pilot House on Friday night
or her classroom teaching, was
honoring our Granada study
presented to Elinor Sullivan,
abroad program. Additionally,
biology.
more than 60 Upsilon Omega
Portland Pilots head volleyPi members reunited on Saturball coach Brent Crouch led
day, we had a record number
the USA Volleyball Collegiate
of 90 alumni and families
National Team to a gold medal
present to watch the alumni
at the U22 Global Challenge,
basketball game, and the Welheld in Pula, Croatia, in July
come Home BBQ had more
2016. They defeated China in
than 900 guests. To see photos
the finals to claim the 12th
taken during the weekend, go
annual European Global Chalto http://tinyurl.com/jeohxnz.
lenge Championship. The
team also defeated England
University of Portland
and Slovenia on their way to
Songs Available Online
taking the title. “I’m really
The Clark Library now has an
proud of the players and staff
online time capsule of alma
associated with the training
maters and school spirit songs
Great news to share from Gavin Clark ’04: “I wanted and tournament,” says Coach
from Columbia University
“It’s no small task for
to let everyone know that Amy Uberuaga ’05 and I are Crouch.
(1901-1935), Columbia Prepara group of individuals to come
proud to announce that on June 10, Amy gave birth to together and form a competatory School (1901-1955), and
the University of Portland
a healthy and strong baby boy — Rowan Michael Clark. itive team, much less a gold
(1935-present). Recorded by
medal winning team, in such a
Michael Connolly and the Uni- Callum is overjoyed to be a big brother, as you can see.” short period of time. Our total
versity Singers and Choir, the
Thanks Gavin, and congrats on your growing family. training period was four days!”
recording and sheet music
The teams we played, the
Rowan has already told us that he is excited to meet junior national teams of Italy,
can be found at http://tinyurl.com/zlr5rtu.
Russia, and China, trained
his UP Classmates of 2038. Such a little man already!
together all summer.” CongratUpsilon Omega Pi
ulations Brent, this bodes well
Celebrates 65 Years
land and had been a member
of Honor from the German
for the 2016-2017 UP volleyball
Past members of Upsilon
of the University’s Board of
Armed Forces.
season.
Omega Pi, which was founded
Regents since 1975. Chiles was The University’s Faculty
Rev. Richard Berg, C.S.C.,
in 1951, celebrated the 65th
named to the Pilots Hall of
Awards were presented on
retired lo these many years as
anniversary of its founding at
Fame for his longtime support Tuesday, May 3, at the Faculty dean of the University’s College
this year’s Reunion, June 23-26. of the University of Portland’s
Awards Dinner, with the folof Arts and Sciences, informs
With over 60 members in atathletic program in 1994; in
lowing results:
us that his book, Scars, which
tendance spanning the five
1987, the University of Portland The James Culligan Award, examines the effects of post
decades since 1951, Upsilon
awarded him an Honorary Doc- established in 1953 in recogni- traumatic stress on family, rebrothers recalled memories of tor of Public Service degree. He tion of distinguished service, lationships, and work, has been
past and present friendships
held an Honorary Doctoral of
was presented to Elise Moent- staged by the Lakewood Thefrom their time on The Bluff
Humane Letters from Boston mann, history. Winners of the ater in Lake Oswego, Ore.
Autumn 2016
45

C L A S S
“Nancy McDonald is a professional actor, director, and drama
teacher,” Fr. Berg says. “She
directed ‘Catch-22’ and starred
in other Broadway productions
some years ago. Nancy also has
a family member back from
combat with post-traumatic
stress disorder (PTSD). She
told me: ‘SCARS is not just a
play; it is theater as a powerful tool.’ Our production began
this summer with her actors,
and will eventually include
others (eg., with PTS) along
with actors. All this, of course,
will be with scriptwriter Roccie
Hill and producer John Beaulieu’s collaboration. I think the
initial tone of this was: we start
small and then go big to help
people understand and deal
with post-traumatic stress.”
Congratulations Fr. Berg, we
know your stories will reach
a wide and receptive audience.
Amber Reneé Noonkester
Ramsdell of Beaverton, Ore.,
adjunct instructor in the University of Portland School of
Nursing, passed away on Sunday, July 3, 2016 in Portland,
Oregon. Upon completion of
high school, Amber entered the
University of Texas at Austin
where she earned her B.S. in
nursing in 2010, and her RN
license shortly thereafter. She
went on to earn her masters
of science in nurse education
from Georgetown University
in 2015. She was commissioned
as a second lieutenant in the
United States Air Force in
July 2010. During her service,
she worked at Wilford Hall
Medical Center and Brooke
Army Medical Center at Joint
Base San Antonio, as a high
risk labor and delivery nurse.
In August 2014, she retired
from the Air Force with the
rank of captain. While serving
in the Air Force, Amber met
then-lieutenant Griffin Ramsdell in February 2011. Knowing
immediately that they were
meant for each other, Amber
and Griffin were engaged in
September 2011 and married
on September 22, 2012, in
Hurst, Texas. Amber was employed as a Labor and Delivery nurse at Legacy Good
Samaritan Hospital. Survivors
include Griffin; parents, Larry
and Lorie Noonkester; brother,
Adam; in-laws, Karla and David
Angal; and numerous relatives
including aunts, uncles, cousins
and many close family friends.
Our prayers and condolences
to the family.
Pearl Brown, who for many
years was the face of the University’s payroll office, passed
away recently, according to
a message we received from
her daughter-in-law. We asked
our resident personnel expert

◆

Jim Kuffner about Pearl and
he remembers her well: “She
did almost everything related
to payroll, including handling
the payroll for the Holy Cross
community. The old payroll
systems were pretty challenging back then and were done
on a mostly manual basis.

N O T E S
She had a quick smile and big
laugh, and everyone got along
with her.” Thanks Jim, and
our prayers and condolences
to Pearl’s family.
Congratulations to Rev. Robert Antonelli, C.S.C., and Rev.
Claude Pomerleau, C.S.C., on
the occasion of their fiftieth

They come from near and they come from far: the
couples who do our University the honor of holding
their nuptials in the Chapel of Christ the Teacher, a
seemingly endless procession of them every season,
summer especially, and we welcome and cherish them
all. Here we have Chris Bell ’15 and Jenny Rodriguez
’14 (henceforth known as Jenny Bell) exiting the
chapel in joyful disbelief during their wedding on
September 5, 2015. Best of luck and blessings to the
new couple(s).
Pearl hung in there as long
as she could in the face of
new technology, but when
she reached retirement age
she decided to step down
about 20 years ago. She was
among a core of old-school
financial-type employees that
included Anna Mullens, Marilyn Mattson, and Ruby Mann.

anniversaries of ordination to
the priesthood. The quietly
gracious Fr. Bob Antonelli
came to The Bluff in 1999, and
soon set about working the
minor miracle of establishing
calm and order in the voluminous University Archives. A
most humble and holy man,
no task is above his able and

Portland
46

affable talents. Fr. Claude
joined the UP faculty in 1991,
bringing his vast knowledge
to bear in the political science
department, at the time joined
with the history department.
He taught politics at Notre
Dame in 1970s and 1980s, was
rector of St. George’s College
in Santiago, 1985-1989; and
taught peace studies and international relations at UP. He
graces the campus still in the
role of professor emeritus.
Rev. John Donato, C.S.C.,
who serves as vice president
for student affairs at the University of Portland, celebrated
the 25th anniversary of his
ordination to the priesthood
this year. A native of Addison,
Ill., Fr. John served his first
pastoral assignment at St.
Francis Xavier parish in Burbank, California; he spent
nine years in pastoral ministry in South Bend, Indiana
and Fort Lauderdale, Florida
before coming to UP to join
the Campus Ministry office.
After leaving to earn a doctorate in educational leadership at Seattle University, Fr.
John returned to UP in 2007
to serve as associate vice
president for student development. He was appointed
vice president of student
affairs in January 2016.
Xan Arch is the new dean
of the University’s Clark Library, as of August 22, 2016.
Arch comes to UP from Reed
College, where she served
as director of collection services. She also held many
posts in the Stanford Univer-sity libraries, culminating
her service there as the
electronic resources and
technology librarian. She
was the 2013 recipient of the
Esther J. Piercy Award given
by the Association for Library
Collections and Technical
Services to a person who has
shown “outstanding promise
for continuing contribution
and leadership.” Arch has a
B.A. in English and French
literatures and an M.A. in English literature from Stanford
University. She also has an
M.S. in library science from
San Jose State University.
A number of people who
attended Fr. Tom Hosinski’s
final UP lecture, “The
Sacredness of the Ordinary”
(and many who weren’t
able to attend) have asked
if it would be available as
a podcast. A downloadable
podcast of the lecture is
now available at http://tinyurl.com/hfmwr8q, along
with a transcript, thanks
to the efforts of Garaventa
Center co-director Karen
Eifler.

C L A S S

◆

N O T E S

Turning 100 years young on October 1: the estimable retired School of Business dean Kent Collings, whose
11-year tenure (1971-1982) was marked by his doggedly determined goal of gaining national accreditation for
the undergraduate business program, and he did it by golly, in 1977. But he is perhaps (make that definitely)
most proud of the many gifts he bestowed upon the University: the Kent Collings Endowed Business Scholarship, the Kent and Ruth Collings charitable gift annuities, gifts to the Pilot basketball program, the Pilot Athletic
Fund, the Pamplin School of Business, and many more, adding up to just over $600,000. Kent lives near his
children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren in Spokane, Wash., and is a newlywed of three years, happily
married to his wife Lorraine after losing his beloved Ruth in 2007. Prayers and gratitude to you, Kent, and
your wonderful family.
Deaths

The Pilot legend Phil Loprinzi ’43, who was named
All-West Coast as a senior, served in the Navy during
the Second World War, helped start the famous Loprinzi
bodybuilding gym, and then taught at the University
and in Portland’s public schools
the rest of his career. We
never tire of great funny
goofy publicity photographs
from the years of Pilot
football, 1902-1950. The
gridironists finished
with 150 wins, 136
losses, and a startling
34 ties, but closed
up shop because
it cost too much.
We still have what
the world calls
football, of course,
as well as a raft
of other sports
for all students,
and all gifts
thereunto are
very welcome
indeed. Call
Colin McGinty
at 503.943.8005 or
mcginty@up.edu.

Portland
48

◆

R O A D S

SHILEY PROUD!
Here’s a story. One day the dean of the University of Portland’s Shiley School of Engineering, the slight
relentless bolt of energy Sharon Jones, sends a note to University regent Darlene Shiley; it was Darlene
and her late husband Donald Shiley ’51 who donated the many millions of dollars that totally rebuilt
and re-energized and rebooted engineering on The Bluff. Sharon signs her note SHILEY PROUD! Soon the
phrase has spread to faculty, staff, and student shirts during Engineering Week (the wild few days every
February when there are soldering contests and robot races and chili cook-offs and other such mania all
around Shiley Hall, and gentle moments like this one with University president Father Mark Poorman
and a student), and to banners on campus, and and and... It’s sweetly funny, this shout of a slogan, and
it somehow does sing the wry brilliance of Donald Shiley (who invented, among much else, a heart valve
that saved many thousands of lives), but it also catches at the booming energy of the School itself. There’s
a new biomedical engineering master’s program; among the first graduates are two students who already
started their own businesses. Undergraduate enrollment is the highest ever: 720 students in civil, computer,
electrical, and mechanical engineering. A stunning 40% are from minority groups, and women make up
more than 30% of recent classes — a remarkable stat in a profession so long and thoroughly male. And
Forbes just ranked the University 18th in America for excellence in STEM (science, technology, engineering,
and math) education. And on and on. Indeed they are proud in the Shiley School, and with good cause.
Want to help shove them higher? Want to foment more of the inventiveness that Donald and Darlene Shiley
invested in? Call Connie Ozyjowski at 503.943.7479, ozyjowsk@up.edu. Be generous. Invest in creativity.
It’s imagination and hard work making dreams work that will better the bruised and battered world.

LAST DAYS OF HOWARD’S HALL
The University’s first and for the longest time only “gymnasium-auditorium”
began life in November of 1927; it opened the next February, blessed by
Archbishop Edward Howard of Oregon, for whom it is named, and it will
probably return to dust sometime next year, at age 90. The gleaming new
Beauchamp Rec Center is now the campus gym, and the Chiles Center long ago
took over mass-meeting duties. Yes, Howard’s roof leaked right from the start,
and yes, the basketball floor creaked and groaned and developed dead
spots, and yes, maybe there were mysterious monsters in the pool, but the
old barn worked awfully hard for campus life over the years, and held up
generations of camellias, and shared its ground with some truly epic and
massive sequoias (which the artist here, Father Mark Ghyselinck, is hoping
will survive Howard’s demise). Do we have scholarships celebrating the
grace and discipline of the many thousands of student-athletes who savored
their hours in the old brick boat? Indeed we do: call Colin McGinty
at 503.943.8005, mcginty@up.edu.